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A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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Welcome to Cape Girardeau ...

The city of Cape Girardeau is primarily located in Cape Girardeau County<1>. A portion of Cape Girardeau extends into Scott County.

While we don't have a date for the founding of Cape Girardeau, you might consider that their post office opened in 1806.

When the people of Cape Girardeau refer to themselves (known as a demonym), they frequently use Girandean<2>

From the  Census Estimates for 2019, Cape Girardeau has a population of 40,604 people<3> (see below for details).

Cape Girardeau is 360 feet [110 m] above sea level.<4>.

Time Zone: Cape Girardeau lies in the Central Time Zone (CST/CDT) and observes daylight saving time

Area Codes for Cape Girardeau: 573 & 235<5>

The ZIP codes for Cape Girardeau: 63701-63703<6>

Population Details ...

Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Cape Girardeau had an population of 40,604 people. This is an increase of 7.02% since the 2010 Census (or an increase of 14.87% since the 2000 Census).

At the time of the 2010 Census, Cape Girardeau had a population of 37,941 people (which is 49.99% of the total population of Cape Girardeau County). This makes Cape Girardeau the county's most populous community.

The population of Cape Girardeau represents 0.63% of the population of Missouri (which has 5,988,927 people), making it the state's 16th most populous community.

With a 2010 count of 37,941 people, the population of Cape Girardeau increased 7.33% from the 2000 Census (which had a count of 35,349 people).

More information can be found on the Census Page for Cape Girardeau.

Websites for Cape Girardeau ...

Official Website: www.cityofcapegirardeau.org/

Communities near Cape Girardeau ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Cape Girardeau.

  • Jackson
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Jackson is located in Cape Girardeau County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jackson
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 14,699 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Jackson <7>
  • Anna
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
  • Chaffee
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Jonesboro
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
  • Oran
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Oran is located in Scott County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oran
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,211 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Oran <7>
  • Benton
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
  • Morley
    (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Morley is located in Scott County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morley
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 682 people
  • Kelso
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Tamms
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
  • Delta
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Delta is located in Cape Girardeau County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delta
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 421 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Delta <7>

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Cape Girardeau. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Cape Girardeau.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Cape Girardeau. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Cape Girardeau.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Cape Girardeau. Our list includes 46 papers. See our Newspapers Page for Cape Girardeau.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Cape Girardeau ...

Looking for more information about Cape Girardeau? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

In addition to the Tourism page for Cape Girardeau, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Cape Girardeau.

Adding Cape Girardeau to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Cape Girardeau in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found (so far) for Cape Girardeau was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<8>

From that list, the Cape Girardeau post office opened in 1806.

For more details, see References and Mentions for Cape Girardeau.

Footnotes ...

<1>If you're interested in how the shape of Missouri's counties, including Cape Girardeau, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
<2>A demonym is the name for a resident of a community which is usually derived from (or is related to) the name of that community. In other words, it's how the residents of Cape Girardeau refer to themselves. It's important to note that there aren't any rules for taking a city's name and turning it into a demonym. A demonym is informal and while the majority of Cape Girardeau may use one name, keep in mind that others may use something different.
<3>Population counts have been provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. For more detail, please visit our Census Page for Cape Girardeau.
<4>The elevation is an estimate for the area around Cape Girardeau - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<5>When there's a risk of an area code running out of phone numbers, an 'Overlay Area Code' is created that has the same geographic boundaries as the existing area code. In this case, the 573 code has been Overlayed with the 235 area code. New phone numbers in the Cape Girardeau area will be assigned with one of these codes: 573 or 235. As a result, placing a call in the Cape Girardeau area will require 10-digit dialing (where you enter both the area code and then the phone number).
<6>ZIP Codes have been created by the United States Postal Service (USPS) as a way of grouping addresses to make delivery more efficient. The boundaries of the ZIP Code can be changed, re-assigned, eliminated or overlapped with other ZIP Codes. So keep in mind that any given ZIP Code is only 'loosely' associated with a city (such as Cape Girardeau). When looking for a ZIP Code, whether Cape Girardeau or elsewhere, it's always best to check the website of the United States Postal Service (USPS).

Our list of ZIP Codes for Cape Girardeau includes: 63701, 63702 & 63703.
<7>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<8>A copy of the Blevins & Helbock Post Office list with background information can be found at:

      https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/