Out of the past 6/29/11

25 years ago: June 29, 1986

The new pastor of Grace United Methodist Church is the Rev. James Davis; he moved to Cape Girardeau recently from St. Luke's United Methodist Church in South St. Louis County, where he had been pastor since 1978.

Room Mates Waterbeds in the Town Plaza has reopened after being closed because of the May flood; the store has been remodeled and about 15 percent more display area added.

50 years ago: June 29, 1961

Reconstruction of Independence Street from Frederick Street westward will be started within two weeks, says Mayor Walter H. Ford after a telephone conference with G.C. Smith, division superintendent of the Missouri Pacific Railroad; while the railroad rebuilds its tracks on Independence Street from Frederick Street to Hanover Street, the city will simultaneously resurface the street.

Temperatures soar into the 90s in the afternoon; the heat buckles the concrete pavement on Kingshighway just south of Bloomfield Road.

75 years ago: June 29, 1936

Shooting for another high mark, the heat wave, after sending the mercury to 101 degrees here yesterday, just one degree under the year's high mark, is climbing upward again; hot winds blew Sunday and again today.

Carl Lewis of Cape Girardeau becomes a city fireman, having been employed by fire commissioner Phil H. Steck; Lewis for three years has been employed by the Kroger Baking Co., working as a clerk at a store at 721 Broadway.

100 years ago: June 29, 1911

Dr. Benjamin R. Hempstead, who recently underwent surgery for appendicitis, died last night at Saint Francis Hospital; the death of Dr. Hempstead removes one of the best-known men in Cape Girardeau County, where he was born and raised; at the time of his death, he was a member of the Cape Girardeau City Council; he is survived by his wife and three children.

L.E. Randoll, who has been living on Rural Route No. 1, has secured a home in the Roberts and Gale Addition.

-- Sharon K. Sanders