I was walking past this telegraph/fire alarm utility cover on the northeast corner of South Hayford Avenue and Elizabeth Street, and I decided to try kicking dirt off it in order to read the rest of the manufacturer’s name.

It’s hard to see in the photo, but I was able to determine that the outer edge reads “Capital Casting Co., Lansing Michigan.” According to OpenCorporates, the Capital Casting Company was incorporated in 1905 and dissolved in 1986. Its registered address is given as 6869 West Grand River Avenue, which (if the numbering is the same) would be in the vicinity of the Capital Area Humane Society today. An article from the May 8, 1938, State Journal titled “Lansing has 65 little industries-from guns to automobile,” which Timothy Bowman has republished in his highly recommended local history blog, instead gives its address as 500 South Hosmer Street. Today that address belongs to Lansing Flooring Supplies, but the building is newer. A similar article on local industries from the February 4, 1973, State Journal does not mention Capital Casting.