It's hard to picture the Cape Girardeau landscape without Southeast Missouri State University in its midst.

But 125 years ago, Cape Girardeau nearly lost out to Arcadia in its bid to land what was then called the Third District Normal School.

Today, Arcadia is a small town, population about 600, in Iron County. But in 1873 it was a formidable rival to what was then another small town, Cape Girardeau.

Gov. Silas Woodson signed a bill establishing the Third District Normal School for Southeast Missouri 125 years ago today, March 22, 1873.

But the law didn't stipulate a specific location for the school. Instead, cities bid for the school. Under state law, the minimum acceptable bid was $25,000.

"It was really a bidding contest," said Arthur Mattingly, a retired history professor from Southeast. "It could have gone anywhere."

Back then, a community was expected to build and operate a normal school. The bidding process was designed to ensure there was adequate funding for the school.

The Third District Normal School didn't have any significant state funding until after the turn of the century, Mattingly said.

Mattingly authored a book about the history of the university that focused on the school's first 100 years. The book, "Normal to University: A Century of Service," was published in 1979.

Cape Girardeau and Iron weren't the only counties interested in landing the school. St. Francois, Madison, Jefferson and Ste. Genevieve counties also expressed interest.

Cape Girardeau County's efforts to secure the school were plagued by township disagreements over where to locate the school.

The cities of Cape Girardeau and Jackson quarreled. Both towns wanted the college.

Some residents of Cape Girardeau County didn't want the normal school. They worried that the school would have too much control over local school districts and increase the cost of employing teachers.

On Sept. 2, 1873, voters in Cape Girardeau County defeated a proposal to raise $50,000 as an inducement to land the school.

In the same election, voters in Byrd Township passed a separate ballot measure that called for that township to raise $50,000 for the normal school.

Not to be outdone, Cape Girardeau city residents petitioned the City Council to seek voter approval of a measure that would authorize the city to raise $50,000 as its bid to establish the school.

The council ordered an election be held in Cape Girardeau on Sept. 17. The measure carried overwhelmingly, 507 to 15.

"It seems we have 15 men in this city who prefer ignorance to enlightenment," the Jackson Cash-Book newspaper reported.

The school's Board of Regents held its first meeting in Jefferson City to consider the two Cape Girardeau County bids and a bid from Arcadia.

The board members were Secretary of State E.F. Weigel, Attorney General H.C. Ewing, State Superintendent of Schools John Monteith, Jacob Burrough of Cape Girardeau, Dr. G.W. Farrar of Ironton, C.C. Rozier of Ste. Genevieve, and T.J.O. Morrison of New Madrid.

Byrd Township offered $50,000 in bonds, $14,450 in cash and 240 acres of land. But the regents rejected the bid because state law didn't provide for the issuance of bonds by townships.

That left two bids.

Cape Girardeau's bid included $50,000 in bonds, more than $6,000 in cash and notes, and land worth about $10,000.

Arcadia offered the existing Arcadia College campus, valued at some $75,000, and $7,000 acres of land, according to an article published in 1965 in the Southeast Missourian.

Mattingly's book lists Cape Girardeau's bid as $54,865 and Arcadia's as $50,608.

The existing college in Arcadia was a church school, which drew students from St. Louis and the southern part of the state. But the school was on the decline.

Mattingly said one of the arguments against locating the school in Cape Girardeau was that the city was on the eastern edge of the district. There weren't good roads to Cape Girardeau.

The regents visited Cape Girardeau and Arcadia in October 1873.

On Oct. 28, 1873, the board selected Cape Girardeau by a 4-3 vote. The board members from Cape Girardeau, Ste. Genevieve and New Madrid voted for the Cape Girardeau site, as did the secretary of state.

The attorney general, state superintendent of schools and Ironton's Farrar voted for the Arcadia site. Ironton is near Arcadia.

But the decision still wasn't final.

The regents met in the parlor of the St. Charles Hotel in Cape Girardeau on Dec. 1, 1873.

The city was deeply in debt. The regents questioned if the city could finance the establishment of a normal school.

Some members of the board said they wanted the city to provide cash or its equivalent, or the bid would be rejected.

Judge Alexander Ross attended the meeting. He was shocked to hear the news. Ross was a judge of the Common Pleas Court in Cape Girardeau.

Ross convinced the board to delay action for half an hour while he tried to secure the necessary financing.

He approached merchant Otto Buehrmann and banker Robert Sturdivant, who agreed to guarantee the sale of the bonds.

The regents accepted the financial arrangement and civic leaders quickly bought the bonds. Cape Girardeau had its college.

The next day, Dec. 2, 1873, the regents chose the former 10 1/2-acre site of Civil War Fort B as the location for the school.

In 1873, the school's future was far from certain. There wasn't any guarantee that it would survive, Mattingly said.

"To a large extent, the location of the school here is a tribute to the men of this community who were prepared to support it financially," he said.