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Jerome St. (and Ferguson), V.D. Minnis, illegible date

On the southeast corner of Jerome and Ferguson Streets is a pair of V.D. Minnis stamps, around the corner from each other. I used to think all V.D. Minnis stamps were undated, until I found one dated ’07. Still, I took that one to be an odd exception, and the numerous undated ones to be a rule. I am reconsidering that in light of my close inspection of these stamps.

The stamp on Jerome Street. It doesn’t look so bum to me.
OK, so there’s a bit broken off the upper left corner. It’s probably at least 110 years old, I’d say it’s lasted pretty well. (Facing west on Jerome Street toward Ferguson.)

I noticed that both of them have a horizontal line underneath, which corresponds with the hyphen in the 1907 stamp (presumably separating the month and year, though the month had been obliterated from that one). I got down and under the yellow light of a street lamp I looked at it up close, and felt with my fingers. There are depressions on either side of the line, suggesting a worn-away month and year. After a bit more looking and feeling I suddenly thought (though it may be spurred by wishful thinking) that I could make out a very faint year: ’07. I am almost positive the first digit is a zero. It is in front of a 1904 house, so this might be from the first sidewalk that was laid when the subdivision was developed.

The stamp on Ferguson. OK, this one has more issues. Still, I hope I look this good when I’m 114.
A closer look at the Ferguson stamp.

I have a new theory about V.D. Minnis stamps, which is that they aren’t undated. The dates have just worn away in almost all cases. This might seem strange, except that the 1907 stamp on Regent Street shows a date that is shallower and cruder than the name, possibly due to being drawn in by hand.

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S. Pennsylvania Ave., F.N. Rounsville, 1909(?)

This one is on the east side of South Pennsylvania Avenue just north of Prospect. I started to bypass it as I took it to be yet another very worn old V.D. Minnis stamp (I like those but don’t necessarily stop for all of them, plus they’re mostly undated), then I stopped and took another look and realized that it was something a lot rarer. Had this been the only one I had seen, it would have been illegible, but instead I recognized it as the second F.N. Rounsville stamp in my collection. The date is certainly in the aughts. In person I thought it looked like 09, but in the photo it looks like 08, which is the date on the other Rounsville stamp I found in the same neighborhood. I can’t make out a month this time.

The stamp is strangely off center. It makes me wonder if the sidewalk used to be wider here.

I’m glad I happened to see this one, because of the condition it’s in. It surely can’t last too much longer.

Looking north up Pennsylvania Avenue, from just north of the corner of Prospect Street.

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Kipling Blvd., [O.]E. Porter, illegible date

Yesterday’s O.E. Porter entry reminded me that I had a stamp on my “to do” list – the ones I jot down to return to later – noted as “E. Porter.” I wondered if I had missed a leading O, or if this was a name variation or even a different company. I walked to the west side of Kipling Boulevard, between Michigan and Lasalle, to check it out.

This one is on a house’s front walk. Upon arriving I could see that it was certainly the same contractor and that the lack of the leading “O” is almost certainly just due to it being swallowed up into a pockmark in the concrete. The other one was undated; this one has a date, but it’s worn into illegibility. There really is no guessing a decade. So, sadly, I didn’t learn anything more about O.E. Porter from this visit.

A closer look to try to make out the date. It’s no good; it seems to end in an 0 but that isn’t much help. Why is it always the most important digit that seems to wear out first?
It’s on the font walk of this charming English-cottage-style house.

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Larned St., O.E. Porter, undated(?)

This is on the last bit of sidewalk on the north side of Larned Street, before the sidewalk abruptly vanishes to the west. It’s nearly across the street, just a couple of lots west, from where the sidewalk ends on the south side of Larned.

It appears to be O.E. Porter, but who that was is something I have yet to determine. I hope I’m reading it right. “Porter” is certainly clear, as is the E before it. I’m not sure whether this one is undated or whether those vague markings below the name are the ghost of an illegible date.

Looking back eastward on Larned from the point where the sidewalk ends.

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Prospect St., E. Schullberger (?) [Schneeberger], illegible date

These stamps are on the north side of Prospect Street between Bingham and Jones. They are not on the sidewalk but rather the driveway and driveway apron. There are an almost comical number of them, with at least three on the driveway and two on the apron.

The center of the driveway.

I recognize the stamp as one I’ve seen and been frustrated by before. It’s frustrating because I can never quite read it with full confidence. My best guess has been “E. Schullberger,” but searching old newspapers does not turn up that name anywhere, which makes me think I am misreading. The other ones I have found are from the 1920s, but the date of these is illegible. Update 5/9/21: I now believe this is E. Schneeberger.

The right corner of the driveway.
The left corner of the driveway.
The driveway apron.
The other side of the driveway apron.
Looking east on Prospect Street.

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Clifford St., McNeilly Const., illegible date

This McNeilly stamp, on the east side of Clifford Street between Eureka and Prospect, is clearer than others I’ve seen, but only the name. The date, unfortunately, is illegible, at least until I get it in a more favorable light. It’s probably 1970s.

Looking north on Clifford on a beautiful spring day.

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Marshall St., McClain Cement Const., illegible date

The other day while walking past the illegible mark by the old Pagoda Restaurant, I caught it in some good light (and no longer muddy) and realized I could make out an M in the name, which when combined with the legible trailing -LAIN made me suspect McLain. So when I walked past a house with “McClain” on the front walk last night (on the east side of Marshall Street between Jerome and the Armory entrance), I made a note to return in daylight, thinking it might let me crack the Pagoda stamp.

Alas, no. While the date is difficult to read, it doesn’t look like it is probably in the right time frame to be the same company as the 1950 -LAIN stamp, nor is the typography similar. It looks like it might be 1999 (it’s certainly not 1909 even if it does look like it). I can find remnant traces of a McClain Concrete (not Cement) Construction in Lansing. There are classified ads for them appearing in the Lansing State Journal from 2006 to 2009 which give sidewalks as one of their specialties.

The stamp is at the entry to the front walk of the house above.

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Prospect St., J. DeHoney, 1950(?)

I’d seen this one before (in my list of stamps to visit later, I have the notes “almost visible” and “J. Bettany?”) but on my walk this evening the light seemed like it was making it as visible as it would ever get, so I decided it was time.

There is a pair, separated by a good distance, on the north side of Prospect Street just west of Lathrop. The eastern stamp is too worn to make much of, but the western stamp is hanging onto legibility by a thread.

The western stamp.

I ended up taking a route on my walk that took me past this same stamp a second time, and to my surprise, the light was even better on the return leg. Here is the western stamp again, making it clear that the name is J. DeHoney. Unfortunately I can’t make out the last number of the date. It might be a zero… it keeps shifting as I re-look at it.

The western stamp, taken on my return walk.

I believe that J. DeHoney is James Reynolds DeHoney. According to Find A Grave, he was born in Lansing in 1920, died in Detroit in 2000, and is buried in the Oakwood Cemetery in Grand Ledge. His monument says he was a WWII veteran, and I found his draft notice in the October 23, 1942, Lansing State Journal. It gives an address for him on Bensch Street in the Potter-Walsh neighborhood. The house is still standing.

Looking east on Prospect.

As for his cement work, I find a classified ad in the December 14, 1951, Lansing State Journal for “CEMENT Basement floors, garage, slabs, footings and general concrete construction. Free estimates. Satisfaction assured. DeHoney and Forsberg. ” Then on May 16, 1954: “CONCRETE Driveways, sidewalks and basement floors. Prompt efficient service. Bartow and DeHoney.” Just two months later, though, on July 24, I see “CEMENT WORK Driveways, sidewalks, approaches, prompt service, satisfaction assured. J. R. DeHoney.” I am assuming that’s the same DeHoney who previously worked with Bartow and Forsberg, but I don’t know for sure. He was still at it on April 1, 1963, advertising “WATERPROOFING Basement walls and floor. All work guaranteed. Free estimates. J. R. DeHoney, Inc.” A similar ad appears February 20, 1967.

The eastern stamp. It does look like 1950 in this picture, now that I look at it again.

Then something different happens. On September 26, 1975, there is an ad in the “heavy equipment” area of the classifieds: “AIR COMPRESSOR – (Chicago pneumatic) 6-cylinder engine, will run 2 jack hammers. Also 35 lb. hammer, 80 lb. hammer. Has 100 ft. air hose, several frost blades and points. Ph. 616-839-2296, Lake City, or write J. R. Dehoney, Rt. 1, Lake City, Mich. 49651.” I wonder if that marks DeHoney’s retirement from the concrete business. He would have been 55 at the time.

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Jones St., Minnis & Ewer, 1910

Welcome back to Capital City Sidewalks, or as it will soon be known, the Internet’s premier Verner D. Minnis fan site. Today I have for you a very hard-to-read 1910 Minnis & Ewer stamp from the west side of Jones Street between Prospect and Eureka. I walked out to this spot today specifically to get this one for today’s entry, only to find that it photographed quite poorly due to a glaze of slush that fell on it this morning and was in the process of freezing over. At first I thought I should wait until I get better conditions for a picture, but I wasn’t able to find anything else of interest that wasn’t similarly buried. Besides, I thought to myself, I’m pretty sure by now my readers all know what a Minnis & Ewer stamp looks like. It’s another one with an illegible month, though I was able to make the year legible by scraping the slush out with my bare finger. On est grand par l’amour, et plus grand par les pleurs…

You’ll notice the heavy sprinkling of evergreen needles decorating the stamp. They were contributed by this impressive tree, seen here as I approached the stamp from the north.

A portrait-oriented photo? Isn’t that against the rules?

I suppose all the needles must get tiresome, but I am always rather envious of houses that have majestic evergreens shading their front yards. All my trees are plain old Norway maples, except for the small ornamental cherry the previous owner planted behind the garden pond.

Looking north on Jones from the corner of Prospect. The stamp is in the more cleared area under the tree.

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Allen St., W.P. Bowerman, 1960s

I didn’t need foil after all, just different light. The stamp that had been illegible to me on a previous walk down Allen Street emerged on my walk this afternoon. Mostly, anyway; while I can tell the date is 1960s, I can’t read the last digit. This is on the east side of Allen Street on the block south of Elizabeth.

I found an obituary for Weldon P. Bowerman; he died in 2012 at the age of 90. According to the obituary, he owned and operated Bowerman Waterproofing for over 60 years and was a World War II veteran. Two of the commenters in the online guestbook speak admiringly of how well the basement work he did for them has held up, and how he dug out the basement walls by hand. His business seems to have been based in Potterville.

A closer look, which makes the hardest letter to read – the R – a bit more visible. Sorry I got my fuzzy glove in there too. It’s hard not to.

The 1960s were a time of transition for this neighborhood. It was the end of an era for Stabler Park, which today is an unremarkable sliver of land with a small play structure and a basketball court at the end of this block of Allen Street. (I think of it as the end of Allen Street, but Allen Street actually resumes six blocks south – just north of Potter Park – for one more lonely block.) Prior to the building of I-496, however, Stabler Park had been much larger. It was originally part of the Cameron Farm, which came to be owned by Christian E. Stabler, founder of the C.E. Stabler Coal Company. In 1930 he donated the land in honor of his son and two grandsons who had died in an accident. In the 1950s and 60s, Stabler Park hosted neighborhood carnivals, youth softball, and seasonal ice skating. In 1967, the state bought most of the park from the city to serve as right-of-way for I-496. According to the Lansing State Journal of October 31, 1967, the deed to the land had a clause which prohibited its use for anything other than a park, so the city had to pay off Stabler’s heirs to clear the title. The proceeds from the land’s sale were used to expand Hunter and Foster parks, which was given as a rationale for contradicting Stabler’s wishes. The moral of this and so many other stories like it is, never give land to a city and expect them to use it for what you intend. They will find some way to get around it.

Looking north with the stamp at the very bottom of the photo. I rather wish I’d pointed south toward Stabler Park now that I’ve written the entry, since I ended up writing so much about the park.

Corrected 2/22/21: It was the city, not the state, that paid off Stabler’s heirs.