Old Lorimier Cemetery, one of the oldest burial plots west of the Mississippi River, dates back to 1808. Louis Lorimier, cousin to George Washington, is credited for establishing the town of Cape Girardeau, and the cemetery bears his name as well. The five acre site overlooks the Mississippi River Valley and received its last burial 25 years ago. It holds 1,446 marked gravesites and hundreds more lie unmarked.
     This segregated cemetery, located on Fountain Street, as divided into sections for Catholics, African-Americans, and Protestants. A majority of the gravesites hold causalities of the Civil War. The historic burial site is slated for a National Register nomination request. If approved, the National Register of Historic Places would provide funds to restore the old Missouri cemetery.