Archive Center
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Q: Why is the county seat located in Jackson, MO rather than the larger city of Cape Girardeau?
A: Originally Cape Girardeau was the County Seat, but it was moved to Jackson in 1814 because of a land dispute. When Louis Lorimier died in 1812 his Spanish Land Grant had still not been approved by the Federal Government. In 1813 Territorial Governor William Clark said that the seat of government needed to be on non-disputed land with clear title, so he told the County Court that the Seat of Justice had to be moved from Cape Girardeau. Most historians believe that the reason his Spanish land grant was not approved was that during the Revolutionary War he sided with the British. All of the other Spanish Land Grants that were issued were approved at a much earlier time. Lorimier’s was finally approved but it was many years later.
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Q: Do you have any documents or information pertaining to the 1941 UFO Crash outside Cape Girardeau, MO?
A: No.
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Q: Do you have any information regarding paranormal activity within Cape County?
A: No, the Archives Center does not have any documents pertaining to hauntings. We do have deed records that show the change of hands of ownership for land and buildings. There are numerous organizations within Cape Girardeau County that investigate paranormal activity who would be interested in paranormal activity. Among these are the Frighteners (http://frighteners-paranormal.webs.com/) and the Cape Girardeau Paranormal Research Team (http://www.capeparanormal.com/).
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Q: What newspaper records are available?
A: The Archive Center only maintains the Cash Book Journal, the Jackson Deutscher Volksfreund (written in German which later became the Cape County Post), and the Cape County Post. The Southeast Missourian is maintained at the Cape Girardeau Public Library in Cape Girardeau, MO.
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Q: What maps are available?
A: We house several early maps of Cape Girardeau County including Spanish Land Grant maps. The 1901 Platt map of the county is the best example of an early map housed at the Archive. We also house the 1870 Brooks Map which does not have land plots marked. There are also early City of Cape and City of Jackson maps. Included in this is the 1910 City Subdivision map which does not cover the county, but only the towns in the county. Most of the maps available only include data for cities, and most of those pertain solely to Cape Girardeau City.
