The Cape Girardeau Court of Common Pleas is an 1854 federal-style courthouse that stands on a limestone bluff overlooking the Mississippi River and constitutes one of the finest examples of pre-Civil War public architecture in Missouri. The building's bluff setting — with the broad river visible below — gives it a commanding presence that courthouse architects of the era deliberately cultivated.
The courthouse is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and remains an active courthouse. The exterior is open to view at any time; access to the interior depends on court schedules. The surrounding Courthouse Hill neighbourhood contains several antebellum homes that survived the Civil War, and a brief walk around the blocks north of the building offers a coherent picture of the town's 19th-century residential character.