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Cape Girardeau County, Missouri

Cape Girardeau County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Named for Sieur de Girardot, a French officer.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

History of Cape Girardeau County

Bounded on the north by Perry County, on the west by Bollinger County, on the south by Stoddard County, and on the east by the Mississippi River. Cape Girardeau County had its origin in the Spanish District of Cabo Girardeau, which was established about the year 1793 when Don Louis Lorimer was authorized by Governor Carondelet to "establish himself and his Indians on any unoccupied territory on the western bank of the Mississippi River from the Missouri to Arkansas." He located at Cape Girardeau (q.v.) and was made commandant during the Genet agitation 1792-1795. The boundaries of the district were on the northern Apple Creek, and on the southern Tywappity Bottom. The southern boundary between Cape Girardeau and New Madrid remained in dispute until 1801 when General Anthony Soulard was ordered by Spanish authorities to fix the line five leagues below the city of Cape Girardeau (near the present town of Commerce in Scott County) from the Mississippi River to the St. Francois River. The County was organized from the district on October 1, 1812  as one of the five original counties  and retained the original district boundaries until 1818, when Wayne County was cut off and Lawrence and Madison Counties were erected from Ste. Genevieve and Cape Girardeau Counties. Further boundary changes occurred in 1851 when Bollinger County was erected from Wayne, Stoddard, and Cape Girardeau Counties. (Violette 77-89, 46-7, Douglas I 67-9, Houck II 154, 167, Spanish Regime I XXII)

Source: Hamlett, Mayme L. "Place Names Of Six Southeast Counties Of Missouri." M.A. thesis., University of Missouri-Columbia, 1938.
 

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