E. Michigan Ave., BBRPCI, 1986

Michigan Avenue on the east side of Lansing bears a lot of 1980s stamps from B.B.R.P.C.I. I find them invitingly cryptic. This example is on the north side of Michigan between Magnolia and Hayford.

The letters didn’t mean anything to me, so I tried Googling “BBRPCI” and had no luck. I figured “I” probably meant “Inc.” so I tried “BBRPC”; still no luck. For some reason I had a hunch that the core company name might be BBR so I tried “BBR” and “concrete.” That paid off, as I discovered the existence of BBR Progressive Concrete Inc. They have that sort of remnant Internet presence of a company that survived long enough to have been incorporated into various online databases but not long enough to have any Yelp reviews. The only thing I can tell you about them is that they were located at 10463 Nixon Road in Grand Ledge, which today looks to be just another 1960s-ish home in a rural neighborhood. (It’s across the street from a private drive – a rudimentary two-track – called Penny Lane, which seems like it would just be inviting the hassle of having one’s street sign stolen.)