This is a frustrating one. It’s just west of the corner of Vine Street and Rumsey, on the south side of Vine. I had noticed it a few nights ago (I’ve been walking through the Rumsey/Vine/Custer area a lot lately to admire the cluster of late holiday lights there) but it was too dark for a photo. I could almost make it out, and thought in daylight it would be easy to read. I was wrong.

It’s “Herb [Something] Cont” (meaning contractor). That much is clear. Of course the most useful part for research is the part I can’t figure out. The first part looks like RIEBO, but then there is at least one more letter and I can’t make sense of it. It’s too small and the wrong shape and slant to be R (compare it with the R at the start), which is what I initially considered. I can’t see it as anything else either. Then there’s the question of whether it’s one or two letters. It looks like two distinct marks, but they’re too close together compared with the spacing of the rest of the letters. The dark mark in the midst of it is a hole (seemingly a pretty deep one, as I poked it with my finger to see if it was part of the stamp and didn’t find the bottom under the mud).

Sadly, with the last name unknown I can’t tell you anything about this contractor.

Update 2/27/21: I now know it to be Herb Riebow.