Cape Girardeau County Archive Center to mark 25th anniversary with open house

KBSI FOX23 News at 9 p.m.

JACKSON, Mo. (KBSI) — The Cape Girardeau County Archive Center will celebrate its 25th anniversary with an open house from 2 to 4 p.m. Friday, Oct. 3, at 112 E. Washington St. in Jackson.

The event will feature remarks at 2 p.m. from Dr. William Eddleman, associate director of the State Historical Society of Missouri’s Cape Girardeau Research Center. A past president of the Cape Girardeau County Genealogical Society, Eddleman also served on the original advisory committee that helped guide the creation of the Archive Center in the 1990s. He continues to be an active voice for local history through his newspaper columns and his radio program “Tales from Days Gone By” on NPR affiliate KRCU.

Following Eddleman’s remarks, the public is invited to tour the facility and view exhibits. Guided tours will also be offered.

First conceived in the 1990s as a secure home for county government documents, the Archive Center opened in 2000. It has been led by three directors: founding director Jane Randol Jackson, who served until 2007; Steve Pledger, who served until 2020; and current director Marybeth Niederkorn, who took the position after a career in journalism and higher education. Niederkorn has also worked to preserve and republish local history books and represents the region through statewide and regional archival associations.

Today, the Archive Center houses probate and civil court records, tax records dating back to the mid-1800s, the county law library, cemetery surveys and more. It also contains the Cape Girardeau County Genealogical Society’s library and the Jackson Heritage Association’s collection of photographs and news clippings documenting the community’s past.

The open house is free and open to the public. Regular hours at the Archive Center are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays. For more information, call (573) 204-2332, email archive@capecounty.us, or visit capecounty.us/archive-center.