List of mayors of Cape Girardeau, Missouri
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The city of Cape Girardeau is the most populous city in Missouri's 8th congressional district and southeastern Missouri, which is sometimes known as the Missouri Bootheel.
List of mayors
Cape Girardeau mayors since 1843, when the city was incorporated:[1][2][3]
More information Mayor, Took office ...
| Mayor | Took office | Left office | Additional information |
|---|---|---|---|
| E. Mason | 1843 | 1844 | |
| George Washington Juden, Sr. (1805–1844) | 1844 | 1844 | First elected mayor[4] |
| E. Mason | 1844[4] | 1846 | 2nd term (previously served as mayor, 1843–1844) |
| Thomas Johnston (1804–after 1870)[5] | 1846 | 1849 | Some sources spell his name as Johnson. |
| Dr. Patrick Henry Davis (1803–1852) | 1849 | 1851 | He was the publisher of the Southern Advocate and State Journal, originally an 1819 newspaper which was the second-oldest Missouri newspaper outside of St. Louis.[2] |
| Alfred T. Lacey (c.1821–1878)[6] | 1851 | 1852 | During the Civil War, this bank president moved his family to Memphis, where he remained after the war.[7] |
| Thomas Baldwin | 1852 | 1853 | |
| John C. Watson (1796–1866)[8] | 1853 | 1854 | Captain Watson was a Mississippi River boat pilot for 24 years.[8] |
| Amasa Alton (1810–1855) | 1854 | 1855 | |
| C. T. Gale | 1855 | 1857 | |
| John Ivers, Jr. (1824–1885) | 1857 | 1860 | |
| John Albert | 1860 | 1862 | In 1860, he tried to create the city fire department, but the city fire department was not officially established until 1866.[9] |
| George H. Cramer (1820–1892)[10] | 1862 | 1867 | Son of one of the county's first German settlers. In June 1861, he organized and led a battalion of four Union companies. In 1867, he became a member of Cape Girardeau's first school board. He was the father of Wilson Cramer,[11] Cape Girardeau County prosecuting attorney 1873–1874.[12] |
| George C. Thilenius (1829–1910) | 1867 | 1873 | The Colonel George C. Thilenius House is on the National Register of Historic Places. |
| Edward D. Engelmann (1830–1898) | 1873 | 1877 | He was from Hanover, Germany, and came to the United States in 1840. He was a clerk of the court of common pleas at Cape Girardeau for 18 years. His son Edward H. Engelmann was also a clerk of the court of common pleas at Cape Girardeau.[13] |
| Leon Joseph Albert (1840–1912)[14] | 1877 | 1879 | He spoke French and German and built the Alfred T. Lacy, named after a previous mayor. This was the only steamboat ever built at Cape Girardeau.[14] Author Mark Twain served as a co-pilot on the Alfred T. Lacy.[15] Albert Hall (1905–1960), the first dormitory on Southeast Missouri State University, was named after him.[16][17] |
| George H. Cramer (1820–1892)[10] | 1879 | 1886 | 2nd term (previously served as mayor, 1862–1867) |
| Leon Joseph Albert (1840–1912) | 1886 | 1891 | 2nd term (previously served as mayor, 1877–1879) |
| Harlan P. Pieronnet (1852–1912)[18] | 1891 | 1895 | |
| William H. Coerver (1848–1940)[19] | 1895 | 1901 | He was a druggist for 50 years. His Broadway Street house was later converted into Schulz Surgical Hospital, until the opening of Southeast Missouri Hospital in 1928.[20] |
| Dr. John D. Porterfield (1843–1922) | 1901 | 1903 | He was educated at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia and Missouri Medical College in St. Louis. Porterfield retired as a doctor in 1906. His father and three sons all became doctors. He was also president of the Cape Girardeau Water Works and Electric Light Company.[21] |
| Rodney Gayso Whitelaw (1859–1922) | 1903 | 1905 | He may be related to former congressman and Cape Girardeau County prosecuting attorney Robert Henry Whitelaw (1854–1937).[12] |
| William H. Coerver (1848–1940)[8] | 1905 | 1907 | 2nd term (previously served as mayor, 1895–1901) |
| Dr. Warren C. Patton (1858–1928)[22] | 1907 | 1909 | |
| Merit E. Leming (1862–1938) | 1909 | 1911 | After serving on a dormitory association, Leming Hall (1905–1972),[23] the first women's dormitory on Southeast Missouri State University, was named after him.[17] |
| Frederick A. Kage (1848–1932)[24] | 1911 | 1917 | Cape Girardeau County sheriff, 1882–1886.[25] He served in city and county government for 63 years.[24] |
| William Hirsch (1866–1939) | 1917 | 1918 | He was born in Madison, Indiana; his father was born in Germany.[26] He was a pioneer merchant, a county judge, a bank president, and president of the Chamber of Commerce.[27][28] |
| Henry Harl Haas (1878–1935) | 1918 | 1922 | First mayor under the municipal form of government. He resigned to become postmaster for 12 years. In 1934, he was defeated in a mayor election by 325 votes.[29] |
| James Alexander Barks (1879–1936) | 1922 | 1930 | |
| Edward L. Drum (1875–1955) | 1930 | 1936 | Cape Girardeau County prosecuting attorney, 1937[12] |
| Charles G. Wilson | 1936 | 1938 | He finished third in the 1934 mayoral election behind mayor Edward Drum and former mayor Henry Haas.[30] |
| Edward L. Drum (1875–1955) | 1938 | 1940 | 2nd term (previously served as mayor, 1930–1936) |
| W. Hinkle Statler (1909–1962)[31] | 1940 | 1942 | Elected at the age of 30, he became the city's youngest mayor at that time. |
| Raymond E. Beckman (1896–1971)[32] | 1942 | 1948 | He became acting mayor while Hinkle Statler was serving in the military during World War II. |
| Walter H. "Doc" Ford (1910–1968) | 1948 | 1952 | He was given the nickname "Doc" as his father was a Gordonville doctor.[33] |
| Manning P. Greer | 1952 | 1954 | |
| Narvol A. Randol (1916–1999)[34] | 1954 | 1956 | He was a lieutenant colonel and battalion commander at the Battle of the Bulge. In 1971, he retired as a brigadier general in the Missouri National Guard.[34] |
| Walter H. "Doc" Ford (1910–1968) | 1956 | 1964 | 2nd term (previously served as mayor, 1948–1952) |
| Waddy Elmo Davis (1903–1992) | 1964 | 1965 | |
| Charles A. Hood (1906–1996) | 1965 | 1966 | In 1965, he purchased the historic St. Charles Hotel[35] where guests reportedly had included Ulysses S. Grant, Mark Twain, and Charles Dickens.[36] Born in Cape Girardeau, he worked as a general contractor, a millworker, and in the retail grocery business.[37] |
| J. Ronald Fischer (1933–2026) | 1966 | 1967 | Cape Girardeau city manager, 1988–1995.[38] At age 32 he became the second-youngest person to serve as mayor of Cape Girardeau. He served in the US Navy during the Korean War.[39] |
| James Hugh Logan | 1967 | 1968 | First executive director of the Southeast Missouri Hospital Foundation, 1977–85,[40] and president of the hospital's board of directors, 1986–1989.[41] |
| A. Robert Price | 1968 | 1969 | |
| Ivan L. Irvin (1934–2008)[42] | 1969 | 1970 | He served on the Missouri Real Estate Commission, 1987–1992.[42] |
| Howard C. Tooke (1918–2006) | 1970 | 1978 | |
| Paul W. Stehr (1936–2023) | 1978 | 1981 | Stehr grew up in Cape Girardeau and died at age 87 in Charlotte, North Carolina. He won the MVP trophy after his Cape Central team won the state high school basketball championship in 1954. Stehr opened a clothing and athletic store,[43] worked in the insurance business, and served as a captain in the U.S. Marine Corps.[44] Acting city manager, 1981.[38] |
| Howard C. Tooke (1918–2006) | 1981 | 1986 | 2nd term (previously served as mayor, 1970–1978) |
| Francis E. "Gene" Rhodes (1926–2014) | 1986 | 1994 | In 1963, he founded Rhodes Oil Companies, which runs Rhodes 101 Stop gas stations and convenience stores.[45] He served in the U.S. Army in the Pacific Theatre during World War II.[46] |
| Albert M. Spradling, III[47][48] | 1994 | 2002 | Son of Missouri state senator Albert Spradling, Jr. |
| Jay Knudtson | 2002 | 2010 | Banker and Southeast Missouri State University Board of Regents member (2011–2018)[49] |
| Harry Rediger (1937–2024) | 2010 | 2018 | Former manager of the J. C. Penney in Cape Girardeau. Many years on the United Way Board of Directors.[50][51] He was born in Seward, Nebraska, and later served in the Naval Reserve.[52] |
| Bob Fox | 2018 | 2022 | Former city councilman of Cape Girardeau |
| Stacy Blakeslee Kinder | 2022 | 2026 | First female mayor of Cape Girardeau, former councilwoman, and former member of the Cape Girardeau School Board[53] |
| Robbie Guard | 2026 | - | He has worked as a banker.[54] |
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Notable city managers for Cape Girardeau
Notable members of the Cape Girardeau city council
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