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Jerome St., George Hagamier, 1930

I have always paid attention to sidewalk stamps, but now that I’m actively looking for them for this blog, I keep seeing ones I thought would be harder to find. For instance, I had thought finding one from the 1930s would be difficult as I could not recall ever seeing one. On my walk today I realized there was a 1930 stamp right out in front of 1704 Jerome, the house I previously wrote about. This is on the south side of Jerome between Marshall and Horton (near the corner of Marshall). I stopped to look at it first because I saw that it was another George Hagamier stamp like the one I noted on the Marshall side of the property. Then I realized that instead of another 1929 stamp as I expected, it was from 1930.

Although 1704 Jerome was built in 1929 according to the city’s property records, this leads me to wonder if it was still being worked on into 1930 (likely by George Hagamier, who was a building contractor).

This stamp is much more worn and difficult to read than the quite neat and clear stamp on the Marshall side of the property, near the house’s gigantic garage. I don’t know how to account for that. Jerome doesn’t seem likely to receive any more foot traffic than Marshall, but maybe things were different in decades past.

The funny thing is that my walk later took me past a Lansing DPW stamp on Clemens that, if I’m reading it correctly, also read 1930.

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Shepard St., DPW, 1952

One of my goals (besides finding the earliest and latest stamps I can, and I may have peaked too early on the former) is to find a stamp from as many different decades as possible. So here is an otherwise not particularly distinguished one I saw on my walk today to represent the 1950s.

Another one from the Department of Public Works, 195…7? 2? I initially thought 7, but it looks too rounded. On the other hand, there’s definitely no bottom bar to make it a 2. It’s on the east side of Shepard between Kalamazoo and Stanley Ct. (a curiously tiny, glorified alley between Shepard and Leslie).

Update 2/27/21: Based on seeing several others like this, I am now sure it’s 1952.

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Regent St., C. Gossett, 1962

There are several slabs by this same contractor, from the same year, on the east side of Regent St. between Kalamazoo and Michigan. (Regent is strangely lacking in cross streets. If Prospect continued instead of disappearing between Clemens and Allen, this would be between Kalamazoo and Prospect – the 300 block.) They’re all very worn and these are the best of them.

This one gives the date clearly, but the name is difficult to read. Some of the others look ambiguous between 1982 and 1962, but this makes it clear that the date is 1962.

This one has the name a bit better, but it’s still very hard to make out. I was bending down trying to rub dirt away from it and feel it out with my fingers when a runner had to veer into the street to avoid me. If he was muttering something to himself about crazy people on the sidewalk, he was doing it quietly enough to avoid offense.

The last name is almost certainly “Gossett” but the first part is illegible. It’s probably a pair of initials and the second one seems to be G, by my best guess. My initial impression was “J. G. Gossett” but the “J” is little more than a guess. Searching for a Gossett in the cement business hasn’t borne any fruit for me yet, so I’m sorry to say I haven’t anything interesting (yet) to report about this one.

Update 8/14/20: I found a couple of other 1962 stamps from this company on Regent and Shepard that are a little clearer. It appears to be only one leading initial, not two, and my best guess is that it’s an O.

Update 8/21/20: I found a couple of even clearer stamps, from 1960 this time, on Rumsey north of Vine. I am still not 100% sure, but I am now leaning toward the first initial being a C.

Update 10/30/20: I can now confirm that it is a C, based on a couple of very clear stamps on Fernwood west of Hayford.

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N. Fairview Ave., DPW, 1918

Today found me walking up Fairview to find the 1924 marking my husband directed me to. I did find it – actually, there are a few – but by the time I did, I had already found something else I wanted to share today. I’ll get back to the 1924 slabs another time.

A sunny morning on N. Fairview Avenue. Why do the streets east of Clemens get to be Avenues instead of Streets? It sounds much grander, doesn’t it?

I found this on the east side of Fairview between Vine and Fernwood. It’s easy enough to read “Department of Public Works” but the line underneath is nearly worn out and obscured by plant growth. Still, that year…

It reads to me as 1918. I stopped and felt it with my fingers (I wonder if any of the neighbors were watching) and this seemed to confirm it. I can’t be sure because of how worn it is but I’m not sure I see a plausible alternate interpretation either. The rest of the bottom line is largely illegible due to the plants, which were growing through the pavement. At the time, in the sunlight, I couldn’t make anything out of it at all, but my photograph seems to reveal that the next word might be August. If I’m right, I happened to stumble upon something from another August and another pandemic.

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Marshall St., George Hagamier, 1929

Today’s stamp is on Marshall St. between Michigan and Jerome. Jerome is a curious street. It crosses north-south streets full of modest homes on Lansing’s east side, lots of two-storey dwellings hovering around 1200 or so square feet, built in the 1890s to 1920s. Yet Jerome St. itself is peppered with grander homes, a few even approaching mansionhood. This results in the incongruity of a stately old pile standing right next to an honest little house. Such is the case at Jerome and Marshall.

I have long admired this house, 1704 Jerome St. I think of it as Tudor Revival and have always thought it looked quite a bit like the English Inn, the 1927 Tudor style mansion built as the country home of a GM executive which happens to be where I had my wedding. The City Pulse profiled 1704 Jerome as part of its Eye Candy of the Week feature and called it Georgian style. I have a very rudimentary grasp of architectural styles but I still think it looks like a Tudor. The first time I saw it while driving around my neighborhood I was flummoxed: what is this doing here? Moreover, I wondered to myself, how did they manage to build that obviously modern three-car garage and yet blend it so well into the existing architecture? Even the bricks match perfectly. It can’t be original, because no one would have had a three-car garage in the 1920s when that was probably built.

Since then I have learned to use the city’s online property search to satisfy my curiosity about such things. From it I have learned that the house, yes, was built in 1929. And the garage, according to city… was also built in 1929. How strange.

Today’s stamp is near that garage, on the Marshall St. side of the property. George Hagamier was a contractor who did a lot of building in Lansing, including being hired to put an addition on the Hotel Kerns (which later burned down). I can find a reference to him being a contractor as early as 1906, when he was mixed up with some sort of fiasco involving a business called the National Supply Company. Yet, according to an article on the English Inn in the City Pulse, George Hagamier was the contractor for an addition that was put on the English Inn in the 1950s. Could it possibly be the same person? The 1940 census lists a George Hagamier of Lansing as being 69 years old. This would imply that Mr. Hagamier was still working as a contractor into his 80s, unless it is actually a father and son.

In any case, my guess is that George Hagamier was involved in building 1704 Jerome. Perhaps he was the person you called when you wanted to build a big stack of Tudor (or Georgian) bricks.

I had expected this one to be the oldest one I saw for at least a little while, but my husband has already located several 1924 pavements and when my walk takes me in the right direction you’ll be seeing them here.

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Kalamazoo St., Minnis & Ewer, undated

This Minnis & Ewer stamp is on East Kalamazoo Street between Jones and Holmes. There are several of these in the area and I’ve always admired them. The border and curved lettering add a touch of eye appeal. They’re a good size and have deep and clear impressions.

Unfortunately it is undated, as are all of the Minnis & Ewer stamps I have found. I find a listing for Minnis & Ewer in a 1908 Lansing city directory which identifies the proprietors as Verner D. Minnis and Edward C. Ewer. They also have a sideline ad in the directory which reads, “MINNIS & EWER | Contractors and Builders of CEMENT SIDEWALKS AND FLOORS / Bell 1113-L. Citizens 1188 / 725 PINE STREET NORTH.” Oddly, 725 N. Pine St. is a residence built in 1891, implying that Minnis & Ewer operated out of a home, which doesn’t quite make sense to me.

One of my goals is to find the oldest stamp I can. Since Minnis & Ewer were active in 1908 it’s possible this is older than the oldest date I’ve found so far (1929, and more on that in a later post no doubt). There’s no way to know short of doing a bit more research than I’m prepared to right now, but if I get invested enough in this blog, maybe someday I will.

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Horton St., Lansing DPW, 1944

There are a half dozen or more stamps bearing a 1944 date on Horton St.’s northernmost block (between Jerome and the new Eastern High School). They caught my attention because I haven’t noticed 1940s dates anywhere else on my walks around the east side.

Horton is a nicely shady street with sturdy old houses. Its dead end is a little strange, since the street evidently used to curve around to join the Armory lot, but is now blocked with a rusty gate. The stretch of street past the gate still has wooden posts demarcating it and the pavement is visible though starting to succumb to weeds. I wonder how long it’s been inaccessible.

The dead end of Horton St.

Most of the 1944 stamps have a clear, easy-to-read date, but a very worn name. I managed to find a legible one. It reads “Lansing D.P.W.” That would be Department of Public Works. Lansing no longer has a Department of Public Works (though East Lansing still does). I assume that it became the Public Service Department. One of the divisions of Public Service is Operations and Maintenance – so this stamp seems to be the 1940s version of the O&M stamps from the other day.

I wonder what was going on that Horton got so many new sidewalk slabs back in ’44?

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Regent St., Cantu & Sons, 1988

This is another one on Regent St. between Kalamazoo and Elizabeth. Cantu & Sons have stamped more sidewalks in Lansing’s east side (my neighborhood) than any other contractor by a wide margin. Most I have seen are dated 1987 or ’88, suggesting the neighborhood or perhaps the city had a huge sidewalk replacement project at that time. It’s hard for me to imagine now, as during my walks I have seen countless damaged, crumbling, and heaved-up sidewalk slabs and can’t recall ever seeing one being fixed on my own block in 20-plus years of living here.

It’s a little hard to read but the date is 1988, with the stamp reading “1987” and the final 7 manually overwritten to become an 8. I have seen this adjustment on a large number of the Cantu & Sons slabs. You might assume they just never bothered to get a new stamp for 1988, but it’s not so: I have seen ones with a 1988 stamp.

Some of the Cantu & Sons stamps add “CEMENT CONT” as a second line. I can find a “Cantu and Sons Cement Contract” [sic] listed in the 1984 US Small Business Administration Annual Report, with their city given as East Lansing. They do not appear to be in business anymore under that name, but I do find a Cantu Builders on Lake Lansing Rd. Their Web site states, “We have been in business for over 30 years, with our roots in concrete. We have since branched out and are experienced with remodels, painting, siding, commercial and residential building, tile and fine finishes. Although our name has changed a couple times our excellent work and customer service has not.” Sounds like I’ve found them. (Yes, I know cement and concrete are not the same thing.)

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O&M mystery solved

I realized I should just do some research to try to figure out who “O&M” was and it wasn’t long before I pieced together that it is probably the city’s Operations and Maintenance department. This partly explains the brevity of the stamp. Most of these serve partly as advertisements for the contractor, but the city doesn’t need to advertise. Presumably they just mark them for informational purposes instead. I do wish they were dated like most of the sidewalk stamps around town.

My guess is that the city mostly does sidewalk work when they have disrupted the pavement working on some other project in the area.

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Regent St., O & M, undated

This one, on Regent St. between Kalamazoo and Elizabeth, is a strange example of a sidewalk stamp because it’s much less informative than they usually are. There’s no date and only initials for the company name. It’s also very worn. What does this say, anyway? OSM? O&M? Maybe I can find another one like that’s less worn…

… Yes, just a house or two down there’s this much cleaner one. It’s a little odd that it’s so much sharper given that I suspect they were done around the same time. The middle letter looks less like an S here, but also doesn’t quite look like an ampersand.

Update 8/8: I have determined that this is probably the city’s Operations and Maintenance department. That is an oddly stylized ampersand; I wonder when the stamp was created? They probably used the same one for years.