The Southeast Missouri Regional Port Authority started in 1974, beginning with nothing more than a board of directors appointed by the governments of Cape Girardeau and Scott counties.

Five years passed before the port authority had even acquired the land it needed to begin to conduct its business.

Since that time, the port has grown, with more than a million tons of goods shipped out in 2005 and new industry starting up regularly.

To document those changes the port authority board authorized the creation of a 133-page spiral-bound volume -- "Southeast Missouri Regional Port Authority: The Making of a Mississippi River Port 1975-2005" -- detailing the history from before the port's inception to the present.

Port authority board member Irvin Garms took the lead on the project. A member of the board since 1991, the 91-year-old Garms was the most familiar with the port's history and, given his long relationship with the port, had a strong desire to document that history.

Much of the material was supplied by digging into the archives of port board meeting minutes, Garms said.

"It took a lot of time, particularly on years gone by before I got down there," he said.

Assisting on the project were David Briggs, Southeast Missouri State University history department faculty member, and Kristin Smith, a graduate of Jackson High School who worked on the project as a summer intern.

Briggs wrote the short narrative that begins the book, while Smith compiled the pages of data on the port's staff, financial history and other hard facts that follow the narrative -- from the first administrative grant from the Missouri Highway and Transportation Department in 1978 to the recent construction of the SEMO Milling corn milling operation. The facts are embellished with several photos at the end of the volume.

The work may not keep the average reader involved, but for those curious about the port or its economic history, the book provides a wealth of information.

Port executive director Dan Overbey said the product could be a bit more "polished," but "I think it's a very good piece of work ... to cover what we have and what has changed."

The idea of the history, Garms and Overbey said, is to honor the efforts put forth by many volunteers who served on the board of directors and to give curious minds an idea of the business growth at the facility.

The history can also be sent out to prospective customers, they said.

msanders@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 182