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Shubel Ave., R. Royer, 1949

I took my walk at Hawk Island Park today, so there wasn’t any sidewalk for me to photograph. After leaving I thought I’d try ducking into a neighborhood I haven’t covered at all yet, and ended up driving into the Sycamore Park subdivision and parking somewhere more or less at random.

I discovered this pleasant subdivision for the first time shortly after the New Year, when my husband and I decided to drive around viewing lights for a final Christmas activity. We discovered a real wealth of lights here, and were amused by how the street names (Lindbergh, Pershing, Harding) suggested a 1920s origin, though were puzzled by seeing a lot of houses looking to be from the 50s. It must have been developed in phases, probably interrupted by the War.

Sycamore Park subdivision resulted from Col. Fred E. Shubel developing a piece of land he owned called Sycamore Farm. According to an advertisement in the July 20, 1929, Lansing State Journal, Lindbergh Drive had been established and graveled, and selection of lots by the interested would begin taking place in a few weeks. Shubel is quoted as saying, “I think it was Ex-President Harding who stressed the ideal of owning a little piece of the United States of America.” I guess he really liked Harding.

I walked a little way along Pershing Drive and was frustrated to find nothing but a lot of BBRPCI stamps from 1990. Then I walked along Shubel and found a handful of frustratingly worn stamps. I could tell they were contractors I don’t recognize, but they weren’t legible beyond a few letters here and there. It seemed as though the older sidewalk stamps were all extremely worn and faded. I almost gave up and chose an unreadable one, but then suddenly this one appeared, on the east side of Shubel Avenue between Parkdale and Pershing.

I read it at the time as “R. Boyer,” but upon looking at it more carefully via the camera’s eye, I think the second name is Royer. Unfortunately I can’t find anything about the contractor. I can find that there was a Royer family in Lansing at the time, but they were in the oil business.

The neat little house this is in front of was built in 1949, so this is probably the original sidewalk.

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S. Foster Ave., Cantu & Sons, 1987

Yeah, yeah, I know, I know. Look, at least it’s the less common variation, right? It’s on the east side of South Foster Avenue between Michigan and Prospect.

Right now this blog is less a sidewalk stamp blog and more a hall of fame of people who actually keep their sidewalks clear. Well, maybe the groundhog won’t see her shadow tomorrow.

Oh yeah baby, look at that sexy, snow-free sidewalk. I’m lucky I didn’t turn into a Tex Avery wolf when I laid eyes on it.

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Lathrop St., DPS, 1953

I found another DPS stamp. Like the others, it’s from the 1950s. It’s on the east side of Lathrop Street between Prospect and Eureka.

It snowed today, so this is the best I could do. At least the S is very prominent!
The stamp is on the next one past the stamp with the ridges. I included the fire hydrant for context, and some late holiday lights in the upper left corner as a bonus. I went this way specifically because I knew there were still some lights on this street.
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Prospect St., C.E. Schneider, undated

C.E. Schneider is a contractor I haven’t seen before, or at least haven’t taken notice of. This pair of stamps is on the north side of Prospect between Holmes and Virginia. Unfortunately, neither one is dated.

The eastern stamp.

The only reference I can find to C.E. Schneider as a contractor is a brief obituary for Clyde Schneider (1920-2000) which states that he was “Owner and Operator of C.E. Schneider and Sons Cement Contractor.” It also says that he had been a resident of Mount Pleasant since 1998. Schneider is buried in DeWitt according to Find A Grave, so he might have been a DeWitt native. I would guess that C.E. Schneider and Sons was a metro Lansing business. I haven’t found out anything else about the company that would allow me to narrow down when the stamp could have been from.

The western stamp.
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E. Kalamazoo St., E.F. Sheets, 1962

I made a mistake in yesterday’s entry, saying that most of the E.F. Sheets stamps are in the Sparrow area north of Michigan. I had forgotten another cluster of them south of there, sprinkled around the Kalamazoo/Prospect/Bingham area. This one is on East Kalamazoo Street between Bingham and Jones. It’s difficult to read but a comparison makes it obvious that it is another E.F. Sheets stamp. What’s curious is the C marked above the name. I thought at first that it was some kind of odd mis-strike, but there are a few others nearby that have the same marking (and yet others that do not). I don’t know what it signifies.

The building it’s in front of is apparently Green Concepts Irrigation and Landscaping, not that one would know by looking at it, as there is no signage. In the 1930s and 40s it was Otto Kopietz’s grocery store. The building was constructed in 1926 and I’m not sure whether Kopietz was the original occupant; the earliest reference I can find to his grocery is from 1930, but no address is given. By 1932 he was definitely at this location and selling liquid malt according to an advertisement in the August 2 Lansing State Journal. While liquid malt can also be used in baking, I can’t help but wonder how many people were using it in home brewing.

The former Otto Kopietz grocery store. One can see how the windows have shrunk since those days. The stamp is on the second closest block.

Unfortunately, I am not able to determine when Kopietz closed up shop, nor what business was at this address in 1962. And yes, that is 1962. The typeface that some of the contractors used in the 1960s for dates is frustratingly curvy and often makes me think 6 and 9 are zero. I initially read this one as “1002” and stood there for a moment perplexed by it.

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Eureka Street, E.F. Sheets, 1962

This is on the south side of Eureka Street between Virginia and Jones. I see these E.F. Sheets stamps here and there, especially in the neighborhood near Sparrow Hospital, north of Michigan. I find it curious that stamps often seem to be more common in some blocks than others.

Unfortunately, and surprisingly, I have not been able to turn up any information at all about E.F. Sheets. I welcome any information any reader may have.

Looking west on Eureka, toward a stretch of scofflaws who have not cleared their damned sidewalks.
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Horton St., DPW, 1935

This is one of the “second style” of Department of Public Works stamps. It’s on the west side of Horton Street, just south of the intersection of Jerome. I recognized it mainly by the size and style, since it is so worn. The date is even worse. It’s just barely possible to make it out as 1935; it probably won’t be for too many more years.

I’m usually drawn to the clearest, sharpest stamps, but there is some value in capturing these very faded ones too.

Looking north on Horton Street. There are some bonus holiday lights in here for you too.
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S. Fairview Ave., Cantu & Sons, 1980s

A friend recently cursed me by introducing me to HistoricAerials.com. I say “cursed” because for the last few days I have spent hours examining the changes in local streets instead of, say, going to bed at a reasonable hour. I have spent a lot of this time looking at how the freeway and time have changed the Urbandale neighborhood. So that is why I set out to walk through it in real life tonight, without considering that the snow of last night and today would probably not be very cleared there. All this preamble is mainly just to apologize for tonight’s entry, gleaned from one of the only cleared sidewalks I traversed.

OK, yes, it’s one of these. But isn’t it pretty?

This is on the east side of South Fairview Avenue, just south of the corner of Harton. (Harton is a source of fascination for me and I have spent some time on HistoricAerials trying to figure out when and why it lost its three middle blocks. Sadly there is no sidewalk on any part of Harton, so I will not be able to feature it here.) I can’t read the date but it is obviously one of the numerous 1987-88 stamps found all over the east side. The house it’s in front of is the only one on the east side of the 700 block. The southernmost blocks of the Urbandale streets have lost many houses to demolition and look very sparse and forlorn.

Looking south on South Fairview. This is the last house on this side of the street. I appreciated that they shoveled their walk. You can just make out the cleared area where I brushed snow off the stamp, past where the fence begins.

Looking north on South Fairview, toward the intersection of Harton.

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Rumsey Ave., E.R. Premoe, 1997

These stamps are on Rumsey Avenue just north of Michigan, alongside the Church of the Resurrection complex. There are one or two more E.R. Premoe stamps along that stretch besides these, but my hands were getting cold.

This stamp is on the front walk of the building rather than the public sidewalk.
The above stamp in context.

This is a plainer stamp than the other E.R. Premoe version, though the tradeoff is that it is easier to read. The date shows that the business continued on for a good while after the death of Earl R. “Lefty” Premoe.

The corner of Michigan and Rumsey. This is one of the buildings of the Church of the Resurrection complex.
This stamp is on the public sidewalk further north on Rumsey.
Another stamp further north yet, also alongside the Church’s property.
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Elizabeth St., O & M, undated

Nothing new or exciting this time, but with fresh snow all over I didn’t have very many options. I walked into Hunter Park, around the paved loop, and back out via Elizabeth Street, stopping to take a picture of this (as usual) undated O & M stamp on one of the last few sidewalk blocks before the dead end. This is on the south side of Elizabeth. I like the deep imprint that makes the borders of the stamper visible.

Elizabeth’s western dead end touches Hunter Park. The sidewalk on both sides just ends without any official trail leading into the park. There is a very well-worn social trail leading from the southern sidewalk toward the pool area. There’s something just a little odd to me about the way the sidewalk goes past the last house’s front porch steps only to end abruptly at the edge of the property when it’s not done being useful yet.

Looking west into Hunter Park. This is my favorite part of the park because it’s a nice, shady grove in the summer months.