The Mississippi River has always played an integral part in Cape Girardeau's history. Long before Europeans settled here, this area was home to many tribes of Native americans, including the Ozark Bluff Dwellers and the Mississippian tribe. The lush grasses, mild-to-moderate climate, and easy river accessibility proved the perfect place to live.

     In the 1730's, a Frenchman named Jean Baptiste Girardot, for whom our city is named, established a trading post at a rock promontory jutting from the west bank of the Mississippi River. This site became known as Cape Rock. However, Girardot was a trader, not a settler, and by the middle 1700's Girardot had moved on.

     In 1793, the Spanish Government gave Frenchman Louis Lorimier a land grant to establish another trading post near the river, a few miles south of the site previously established by Girardot. Even though Lorimier is considered to be our community's founder, he was not afforded the honor of being its namesake. Lorimier did try by naming his trading post "Lorimont," but the name "Girardot" was already widely associated with the area, and over the course of time, Girardot became Cape Girardeau. Lorimier's trading post/home, "The Red House," was located near the site now occupied by Old St. Vincent's Church. The house stood until 1850 when it was destroyed by a tornado.

     At the time of Lewis and Clark Expedition in 1803, Cape Girardeau boasted a population of 1,111. Early in 1806 the town of Cape Girardeau was laid out in lots. A petition for incorporation was presented in 1808. Growth at first was slow and settlement of the city did not come easily. However, the age of steamboats allowed easy movement of manufactured goods on the river, which expedited growth. Shops were opened, hotels went up along the river and Cape Girardeau moved from being a village to a city. When the railroads were completed, it is said the the city's population doubled in just a few months.

     Ironically, the river that had been so beneficial in bringing settlers to the area, also devastated the city. Every few years the Mississippi River would ravage the downtown area, wiping out businesses and bankrupting the proprietors. In order for the city to survive, something had to be done to tame the river. In 1956 work began on a flood wall that would protect the community. It was completed in 1964 at a cost of $4 million and has saved the historic downtown area many times over, particularly during the historic "Flood of 1993" when the river crested at 48.49 feet, nearly 17 feet above flood stage.