__FORCETOC__ 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:

Mayor Took office Left office Additional information E. Mason 1843 1844 George Washington Juden, Sr. (1805–1844) 1844 1844 First elected mayor E. Mason 1844 1846 2nd term (previously served as mayor, 1843–1844) Thomas Johnston (1804–after 1870) 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. Alfred T. Lacey (c.1821–1878) 1851 1852 During the Civil War, this bank president moved his family to Memphis, where he remained after the war. Thomas Baldwin 1852 1853 John C. Watson (1796–1866) 1853 1854 Captain Watson was a Mississippi River boat pilot for 24 years. 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. George H. Cramer (1820–1892) 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, Cape Girardeau County prosecuting attorney 1873–1874. 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. Leon Joseph Albert (1840–1912) 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. Author Mark Twain served as a co-pilot on the Alfred T. Lacy. Albert Hall (1905–1960), the first dormitory on Southeast Missouri State University, was named after him. George H. Cramer (1820–1892) 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) 1891 1895 William H. Coerver (1848–1940) 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. 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. 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). William H. Coerver (1848–1940) 1905 1907 2nd term (previously served as mayor, 1895–1901) Dr. Warren C. Patton (1858–1928) 1907 1909 Merit E. Leming (1862–1938) 1909 1911 After serving on a dormitory association, Leming Hall (1905–1972), the first women's dormitory on Southeast Missouri State University, was named after him. Frederick A. Kage (1848–1932) 1911 1917 Cape Girardeau County sheriff, 1882–1886. He served in city and county government for 63 years. William Hirsch (1866–1939) 1917 1918 He was born in Madison, Indiana; his father was born in Germany. He was a pioneer merchant, a county judge, a bank president, and president of the Chamber of Commerce. 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. James Alexander Barks (1879–1936) 1922 1930 Edward L. Drum (1875–1955) 1930 1936 Cape Girardeau County prosecuting attorney, 1937 Charles G. Wilson 1936 1938 He finished third in the 1934 mayoral election behind mayor Edward Drum and former mayor Henry Haas. Edward L. Drum (1875–1955) 1938 1940 2nd term (previously served as mayor, 1930–1936) W. Hinkle Statler (1909–1962) 1940 1942 Elected at the age of 30, he became the city's youngest mayor at that time. Raymond E. Beckman (1896–1971) 1942 1948He 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. Manning P. Greer 1952 1954 Narvol A. Randol (1916–1999) 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. 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 where guests reportedly had included Ulysses S. Grant, Mark Twain, and Charles Dickens. Born in Cape Girardeau, he worked as a general contractor, a millworker, and in the retail grocery business. J. Ronald Fischer (1933–2026) 1966 1967 Cape Girardeau city manager, 1988–1995. 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. James Hugh Logan 1967 1968 First executive director of the Southeast Missouri Hospital Foundation, 1977–85, and president of the hospital's board of directors, 1986–1989. A. Robert Price 1968 1969 Ivan L. Irvin (1934–2008) 1969 1970 He served on the Missouri Real Estate Commission, 1987–1992. 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, worked in the insurance business, and served as a captain in the U.S. Marine Corps. Acting city manager, 1981. 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. He served in the U.S. Army in the Pacific Theatre during World War II. Albert M. Spradling, III 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) 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. He was born in Seward, Nebraska, and later served in the Naval Reserve. 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 Robbie Guard 2026 - He has worked as a banker. Notable city managers for Cape Girardeau City managers Took office Left office Additional information Paul F. Frederick 1966 1970 First Cape Girardeau city manager. He was from Minot, North Dakota. W. G. Lawley 1970 1980 Paul Stehr 1981 1981 Acting city manager. Mayor of Cape Girardeau, 1978–1981. Gary A. Eide 1981 1987 J. Ronald Fischer 1988 1995 Mayor of Cape Girardeau, 1966–1967 Michael G. Miller 1995 2003 Died in 2017 Doug Leslie 2003 2009 Scott A. Meyer 2009 2020 Former director of facilities management at Southeast Missouri State University Kenneth Haskin 2021 present City manager of Texarkana, Texas 2013–2021, and Texarkana's assistant city manager and director of economic development 2008–2013

Notable members of the Cape Girardeau city council David Limbaugh, commentator and author who served as a member of the Cape Girardeau City Council for eight years, including six as mayor pro-tem Raymond Melvin Gateley (1926–2018), former president of the Missouri State Teacher's Association who served in the Army Air Corps during the Pacific War and as a member of the Cape Girardeau City Council for eight years James "J.J." Williamson (1952–2022), Cape Girardeau's first black city council member, elected in 1994

Key

References

Missouri Secretary of State official manuals