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E. Kalamazoo St., McClain, illegible date

At first I thought this one was just plain illegible, but after studying my photo at home, I realized it is probably McClain. I have done them before, and their other stamps have also tended to be blurry. The date is hopeless.

It’s in front of Edge Partnerships, a PR firm, on the north side of East Kalamazoo Street between Grand and Washington. This building was formerly home to longtime business Wolverine Typewriter. I am not sure when they first opened and finally closed, but as they were in this location from at least 1949-2001, their employees probably saw this sidewalk laid.

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E. Kalamazoo St., F & M, 2009

I walked downtown along East Kalamazoo Street to check out the going out of business sale at venerable jeweler Linn & Owen. I didn’t buy anything, but I did see this F & M stamp and, in the distance beyond, the ghost sign advertising three locations of Beaner’s. Today Beaner’s is known as Biggby and only one of these three locations is extant, the one on Allegan.

There isn’t much else to say about this stamp, besides that it’s on the north side of East Kalamazoo Street, east of South Grand Avenue, in front of the Michigan DHHS’s South Grand building.

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N. Clemens Ave., Eastlund Concrete, 2023

I have a silly (and unfortunately blurry) one for you today. Eastlund Concrete stamps are ubiquitous in the neighborhood, but apparently they failed to get a new date stamp for 2023. The 2 has been rubbed out and replaced with a handwritten 3.

This one is on the west side of North Clemens Avenue between Fernwood and Saginaw, in front of a cute little house that looks like it got some new walk at the same time as a revamped front walk.

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W. Washtenaw St., Christman, 2001

I have previously written about Lansing-based construction company Christman. This stamp is found on the north side of West Washtenaw Street between Walnut and Pine – outside Constitution Hall – and what makes it interesting is two things. First, both of the sets of Christman stamps I’d found before were in the greater Frandor metropolitan area and had dates in the 1950s or 60s.

Second, “constructors”? I guess they wanted to set themselves apart from all the boring contractors who go with the tried and true “construction” in their name.

The stamps appear on both sides of the double-width sidewalk. The employee entrance to Constitution Hall is on the right.
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Lasalle Gardens, Able Concrete, 2019

My apologies for disappearing last week (if anyone noticed). It’s gotten warm enough to see the sidewalks again so here’s a fairly uneventful curiosity I noticed over in the Midway subdivision: two Able Concrete stamps, done the same year, but in two different styles.

The semicircular one is on the house’s driveway, and the plain one is on the front walk. I have to guess they were done on two different occasions, because the alternative is that they brought two different stamps with them just for variety’s sake. As fun as that idea is, it doesn’t seem likely.

This is on the north side of Lasalle Gardens between Kipling and Midvale.

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It’s that time of year again…

… the time of year when the sidewalks are hidden by snow. I’m afraid that means I have nothing for the blog this week.

It came a lot later than normal this year, but we did finally get our first big snow of the winter. I’d had plans to photograph a particular stamp for the blog; it’s one that I thought the light was too unfavorable for on a previous walk. Unfortunately I didn’t get back there soon enough and now it’ll be buried for a bit. Maybe next week.

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N. Hayford Ave., “Zawala”, 2018

I assume this is graffiti, though the name/date format and the placement almost suggests a handwritten contractor marking. But, for Little Christmas, please enjoy the well-lit house I found it in front of. It’s on the west side of North Hayford Avenue between Fernwood and Saginaw.

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S. Clemens Ave., T L Contracting, 2009

This stamp is from the east side of North Clemens Avenue between Michigan and Jerome. T L Contracting isn’t one of the more common stamps in the neighborhood, although I have covered one in the blog before. This block must have been a singleton when it was laid, since it is stamped twice, one facing either way.

It also happens to be in front of a wonderfully decorated house, so I really chose it to showcase some neighborhood holiday lights. Happy holidays to both of my readers!

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Regent St., Snowy Walks

We finally had a little bit of snow (now long since obliterated by the weather turning warm again) and I took a walk in it to get photos of Christmas lights. I also found some beautiful snow-frosted sidewalk stamps. I love the way snow settles into the lettering; in some cases, as in the B.F. Churchill stamp below, it even makes it more legible.

A 1944 Department of Public Works stamp on Regent Street.
This 1908 B.F. Churchill stamp on Regent was one of the stamps that first motivated this blog. The extreme purple cast is due to a defective LED street light.

In honor of the holiday, here are some of the photos I took of Christmas lights on my walk. I have really come to enjoy walking alone in snowy quiet after night falls, stopping to stand in front of Christmas displays and admire them. Driving around to admire lights is nice, and I do that too, but there is something special about the intimacy of doing it on foot. Being a pedestrian is underrated.

Happy holidays from Capital City Sidewalks!

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Graffiti, Allen St., 2022

I have been walking Allen and Lathrop Streets a lot recently as they are a hot spot of Christmas lights right now. This cryptic message is on the west side of Allen between Kalamazoo and Marcus.

The date is obvious; what to make of the rest? C-R-U5? That last digit is a 5, right?

There’s actually something else I want to get from Allen Street but by the time I got going tonight it was too dark. That will probably be next time.