Today and next week, our focus is a Tulip Time landmark. In 1895, Herman Van Tongeren started making cigars in a factory on E. Tenth Street. By 1917, he had a retail store at 12 E. Eighth St. and a ...

The history of "the old shoe factory," a five-level International Shoe Plant at Cape Girardeau is an indication of the trend in the shoe-making industry. International employed 1,200 workers in its ...

On Christmas Eve 1956, fire destroyed the Wooden Shoe Factory and Wooden Shoe Restaurant, newly relocated along the U.S.-31 bypass at 16th Street. After the fire, owner Chester Van Tongeren rebuilt ...