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Cape Girardeau

Cape Girardeau, Missouri
City
Downtown Cape Girardeau
Downtown Cape Girardeau
Nickname(s): Cape, The City of Roses, River City
Location of Cape Girardeau within County and State
Location of Cape Girardeau within County and State
Coordinates: 37°18′33″N 89°32′47″W / 37.30917°N 89.54639°W / 37.30917; -89.54639Coordinates: 37°18′33″N 89°32′47″W / 37.30917°N 89.54639°W / 37.30917; -89.54639
Country United States
State Missouri
Counties Cape Girardeau, Scott
Founded 1793
Government
 • Type Mayor-Council
 • Mayor Harry E. Rediger (R)
Area
 • City 28.49 sq mi (73.79 km2)
 • Land 28.43 sq mi (73.63 km2)
 • Water 0.06 sq mi (0.16 km2)
Elevation 351 ft (107 m)
Population (2010)
 • City 37,941
 • Estimate (2014) 39,167
 • Density 1,334.5/sq mi (515.3/km2)
 • Metro 134,051
Time zone Central (CST) (UTC-6)
 • Summer (DST) CDT (UTC-5)
ZIP Code 63701–63703, 63705
Area code(s) 573
FIPS code 29-11242
GNIS feature ID 0731549
Website www.cityofcapegirardeau.org

Cape Girardeau (/ˈkp ˈrɑːrd/, French: Cap-Girardeau [kap ʒiʁaʁdo]; colloquially referred to as "Cape") is a city in Cape Girardeau and Scott counties in the U.S. state of Missouri. It is located approximately 115 miles (185 km) southeast of St. Louis and 175 miles (282 km) north of Memphis. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, the city's population was 37,941, making it the 16th-largest city in Missouri, and the largest city in Southeast Missouri. An emerging college town, it is the home of Southeast Missouri State University.

The city is named after Jean Baptiste de Girardot, who established a temporary trading post in the area around 1733. He was a French soldier stationed at Kaskaskia between 1704–1720 in the French colony of La Louisiane. The "Cape" in the city name referred to a rock promontory overlooking the Mississippi River; it was later destroyed by railroad construction. As early as 1765, a bend in the Mississippi River, about 60 miles (97 km) south of the French village of Ste. Genevieve, had been referred to as Cape Girardot or Girardeau.


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