I found another diagonal DPW stamp, on the west side of Shepard Street between Marcus and Elizabeth. This one is very, very worn, so it’s not surprising that I’ve apparently overlooked it on many walks through this block. I know what it says only because the shape of a DPW stamp is so familiar.
The stamp is in the lower left corner.
The date is practically illegible. As with several other diagonal DPW stamps I’ve found in the area, the last digit is clearly a 1, but the penultimate digit is obscure. It looked almost like a “3” to the eyes but when I leaned down and felt it, I thought it felt like a 2, same as the others.
Looking north with Marcus Street in view, along with a selection of beautiful Craftsman rooflines. The stamp is just visible at the lower left.
This pair of stamps is on the east side of North Magnolia Avenue between Vine and Fernwood. I’ve been striking out a lot recently on identifying contractor histories; I wasn’t able to find anything on Dumeney. It doesn’t help that there was a Gary Dumeney who served as the spokesperson for the Meridian Township Police for many years.
This is the northern stamp. Hard to make the date out on this one.
Easier to make out the date on the southern stamp, but it must be a low area and it’s been raining recently.
I found another diagonal DPW stamp! A pair, this time, on facing blocks. This is on the west side of Shepard just south of Marcus, in front of the house on the corner.
Facing south on Shepard.
The year is extremely hard to read. I can definitely make out that the last digit is a 1. The decade digit is a lot murkier. Feeling it I thought I made out 2, thus 1921, but I can’t be at all sure. 1931 is another possibility.
Here’s a faded old Department of Public Works stamp on Elizabeth St., at the southwest corner of Allen and Elizabeth. It’s next to a house that kept my spirits up by leaving their Christmas lights, including a tree on their screened porch, up well past Christmas. I used to walk to Allen specifically because of a few houses on the street that still had lights until the end of January or so.
It’s funny now that I used to think 1920s stamps were a big deal. They’re actually fairly common. It doesn’t stop me from trying to catalogue them all, though. 1930s and later is really where I draw the line and say “I don’t need that one” if it’s not an unusual contractor.
This stamp is on the east side of North Fairview Avenue between Fernwood and Saginaw, along with a few more like it on this block. Unfortunately, this is going to be another unsatisfying entry; I haven’t been able to turn up anything about Mel Taylor. The name is just too common to narrow down.
I’m assuming this is not the same Mel Taylor who was a manager with REO Motors in the 1950s, nor the same Mel Taylor who was a minister around the same time. I will have to leave this one unsolved for now.
Looking south on Fairview. The stamp is bottom center.
A driveway apron on the north side of Jerome between Ferguson and Custer caught my eye. It is relatively uncommon to have stamps at all on the driveway, but this one had four! The two pictured stamps are set diagonally on either corner, facing the sidewalk.
The stamp in the left corner, seen from the sidewalk. It’s that time of year when all the trash emerges from hibernation and frolics in the wind.
The right corner.
At first I was going to joke that they must have been especially proud of their work to stamp it twice, but then I realized the likely reason. There are actually two contiguous driveways here that share one big curb cut, as is common in the neighborhood. The double corner stamps are probably signaling “we did this side; the other side is some other contractor’s problem.” The other side has a single 1987 BWL stamp on it.
Looking east on Jerome. The stamps are on the near side of the driveway apron.
There are also upper and lower blocks making up each of the two sides. The DPW stamps are on the upper block, next to the sidewalk. The L & L stamp is on the lower block, next to the road.
This sharp and tidy Knight & Wilkinson stamp is on the east side of North Magnolia Avenue between Michigan and Vine. There are several on this block.
Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to find anything out about Knight & Wilkinson. In the process of not finding anything, I did turn up a very amusing page in the Lansing State Journal promoting the upcoming 1936 city Soap Box Derby. (It just happened to include a kid named Wilkinson.) It’s aimed at kids and includes a hilarious “how do you do, fellow kids” mix of formal diction and trying-too-hard slang. Regarding a film that entrants would receive a ticket to (“Warner Brothers’ latest smash-hit EARTHWORM TRACTOR”) it says, “Then, too, your jovial friend and another favorite of boys and girls, GUY KIBBEE has a big part… Boy! This will sure be one swell treat!”
Looking north on Magnolia.
So, I have nothing to tell you about Knight & Wilkinson, but I can illustrate the kinds of time-eating digressions I end up in while trying to do research for my entries.
This is a driveway rather than a sidewalk, but I’ve diluted the purity of the blog long ago, and it’s a contractor stamp I haven’t featured yet, so here you go. It’s on the west side of North Fairview Avenue between Vine and Fernwood.
The curvature is due to an odd little jog in the sidewalk, as is apparent in the next photo.
Hanneman & Fineis Concrete Construction is based in DeWitt. According to their About Us page, they started when Carl Hanneman took over a concrete business from his father in 1953. Of course, that just makes me wonder when his father’s business started. If Hanneman merely took it over, then surely the business itself is even older? They can’t be dating it to when the business was incorporated because, according to the history given here, that happened in 1986. Hanneman’s obituary (from the December 15, 2007, Lansing State Journal; he was 85) just says he started his own business in 1953, with no reference to taking over his father’s business.
Looking south on Fairview toward the driveway in question.
In any case, Mark A. Fineis bought the business in 1988, renamed it Hanneman & Fineis, and is now the sole owner. I find myself admiring Fineis for continuing to carry on the name of the business’s founder over thirty years after it changed hands.
Here is an extremely worn Department of Public Works stamp from the east side of North Clemens Avenue between Vine and Fernwood. It caught my eye because the date appears to be from the teens, making it among the oldest DPW stamps I have catalogued. That penultimate digit sure looks like a one, anyway, though it’s strange that I don’t see a spot for a month. As far as I have seen, they used a month stamp through at least 1924. It might be worn away, but it’s less likely given that the year is nearly centered.
The last digit is harder to read. I took it to be a nine when I saw it in person, though on closer look at the photograph it might actually be an eight.
This stamp is on the west side of North Clemens Avenue, at the intersection of Fernwood. The date is a little hard to read in the photos but I believe it is 1980.
I haven’t been able to find anything out about E. Harmon. My best lead is an obituary for Earl Harmon, Jr. of Lansing, who died in 2018 at the age of 75. It says “He was is (sic) concrete construction having started and being a partner of M & M Concrete in Charlotte.” Maybe he stamped things under his own name before forming M & M. Unfortunately, that’s all I have on this one.
