My Corner Online

Katy O'Ferrell's Publick House

We do not get out to eat often, but we do enjoy Katy O'Ferrell's, a restaurant in Cape. It is located at 300 Broadway St, Cape Girardeau, Missouri. It is in a historic opera house building, so it is worth visiting just to see the old brick structure. For the longest time when my family was young, the building housed the Royal N-Orleans Restaurant. It was so expensive that we could never afford to visit, although I always wanted to go. When the building changed hands, I was excited to actually be able to go inside. This is an Irish pub type of atomosphere, or as some say a celtic restaurant, so I love to go there in March for St. Patrick's Day. Of course, do not try to go on the holiday as it is packed.

It seems there is confusing information regarding its history. One source says it is the site of the first hosterly being built in 1806 by Captain William Ogle and another source says it was built in 1868, but that date is in agreement for it being owned by the Turner Society. Another source indicates that the Turner Hall was built on the previous site of Charles Ellis' public house (that could be the hosterly) which was built about 1805 and was the first hotel in Cape Girardeau. Turner Societies were also called Turnvereins which were a group German immigrants who specialized in gymnastic exercises and other recreational activities.

The Masonic Order (the Masons) owned it from 1888-1891. Later it became an Opera House with famous folks appearing on stage, what it is most commonly referred to as historically. In 1904 the Naeter Brothers published the newspaper "The Daily Republican" here and in 1954 it became the Royal N'Orleans. It seems there was a fire and a total loss of the building in 1990 and was was rebuilt and reopened less than a year after the fire.

These photos are from March 17, 2017. These are just some cell phone photos of our time together. I did not intend at the time to put them on a website page!

That would be the Irish beer face.

And that would be the bitter beer face. No, one sip of his was enough!