Bring the family to Crisp Museum’s Play Day on Saturday, February 18th, where kiddos will enjoy hands-on activities and games.
In honor of President’s Day, I searched out information on presidential visits to Cape Girardeau throughout the years, and was surprised to see that 3 sitting Presidents have made stops in our river city!
President William Howard Taft was the first sitting President to visit Cape Girardeau, and he arrived via steamboat on the riverfront on October 26, 1909. The President visited along with Vice President James S. Sherman, 177 members of Congress, governors and many other dignitaries who were traveling down the Mississippi to publicize the effort to develop the river’s shipping channel. Over 25,000 people gathered to hear President Taft speak on the steps of the then-new Academic Hall. President Taft’s visit is memorialized on our floodwall in a panel of the Mississippi River Tales Mural.
(Even though he didn’t make an official visit, I discovered that President Theodore Roosevelt passed Cape Girardeau at 3 a.m. on a river trip to Cairo, Illinois, a few years before Taft made his grand entrance. Apparently a number of Cape Girardeau locals weren’t happy that he floated right by, which in part spurred Taft’s visit in 1909 to be such an elaborate affair.)
President Ronald Reagan flew into Cape Girardeau on Air Force One on September 14th, 1988 and spoke at a Republican Rally held at the Show Me Center.
Cape Girardeau’s next Presidential visit came when President Bill Clinton made a stop during a two-day bus tour of Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee during his campaign run on August 31st, 1996. President Clinton spoke to a crowd of thousands at Capaha Park about what his second term agenda.
Who knew….you can walk in the footsteps of three sitting presidents in Cape Girardeau, Missouri!
Get the full scoop on all of these events and more at VisitCape.com/Events.
