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S. Clemens Ave., Ken Roberts, 1980

This stamp (and a second one a short distance away, probably the other end of a run of sidewalk replacement) is on the east side of South Clemens Avenue south of Michigan. It’s next to the parking lot behind the infamous Venue at East Town. I know the date is hard to read in this night photo, but I inspected it closely with my flashlight and it is 1980.

According to Open Corporates, the Ken Roberts Construction Co. of DeWitt incorporated in 1965 and dissolved in 1989. Its practical end probably actually came a bit earlier than that. A large classified advertisement in the June 27, 1982, Lansing State Journal heralds an upcoming auction of heavy machinery, concrete equipment, and miscellaneous items “too numerous to mention” from the Ken Roberts Construction Company. It certainly looks like a liquidation auction.

Looking southeast toward the parking lot.

From the above advertisement I also learned that there used to be an airport outside East Lansing, since it gives the auction site as “across the street from Davis Airport.” I had to look up where the heck Davis Airport was and I learned to my surprise that it was still extent (though in a very diminished form) as late as 2000 and is now buried under the gigantic student apartment complex known as Chandler Crossings.

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N. Holmes St., L & L, 1985

I went out in search of Halloween decorations on my walk tonight and I found lots of them in the blocks east of Sparrow. It gave me a nice little bit of Halloween spirit in a year where I haven’t gotten to do much. Anyway, I found this L & L “curb walk” on the east side of North Holmes Street between Vine and Jerome.

The house next door to this one also has a curb walk, although most of the houses on this block do not.

Looking southwest across Holmes.

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North Foster Ave., BBRPCI, 1985

This BBRPCI stamp is on the west side of North Foster Avenue between Michigan and Vine. There are lots and lots of these around the East Michigan Avenue corridor, many from the 1980s.

Yeah, yeah, I know. They can’t all be exciting. I was working late today and didn’t have time to seek out something novel (and well-lit after sunset) on my walk.

Looking south on Foster. The stamp is at the very bottom of this picture.

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E. Michigan Ave., J. Carter Co., 1986

Today’s is actually a cluster. I’ve noticed these before but usually when walking at night, when it would have been hard to get a good photo. I finally passed this way in the evening. This is on the south side of the 1400 block of East Michigan Avenue between Clifford and Holmes, in front of the Physicians Health Plan building. By sheer, until-now unrecognized, coincidence, this is actually due north of yesterday’s Beverly Place Apartments location, 1400 East Michigan versus yesterday’s 1401 East Kalamazoo.

Either this one was done at the beginning of the work day, or by the person on the crew whose views on “doing things right” most resembled my dad’s.

The J. Carter Co. of Holt seems to be out of business, although only recently. OpenCorporates gives its incorporation date as 1984 and its dissolution date as 2014. That may not exactly reflect when the business ceased to exist, but the stray traces of it I can find on the Internet suggest it made it to relatively recent times. Its former address, on Keller Road in Holt, is now occupied by Moore Trosper. Whether they just took over the building or also bought out the business I don’t know.

The stamp in the top photo is visible near the bottom of this one. The parking lot belongs to Physicians Health Plan.

The one thing I have found out about the J. Carter Co. is this brief news item from page 12 of the October 14, 1987, Lansing State Journal: “The J. Carter Co. of Holt has begun building a cement holder for the state’s Christmas tree on the lawn of the Capitol. Technically called a sleeve, the project will take the place of the temporary ones built each year. Work on the $22,000 project began Tuesday and is to be completed by Nov. 10.” Sadly, that sleeve is no longer in use. The state tree had to be relocated further forward due to the installation of bollards at the edge of the Capitol grounds in 2016 to stop terrorists from driving onto the lawn and doing terror-doughnuts. As a result the state tree has been smaller, a deficiency they have attempted to surmount with the addition of a gust-prone tree topper. What’s that you say? You’re wondering if I’m opinionated about this? Well, since you wrung it out of me, I will admit that I do not like the new tree placement. It looked much more dramatic in its old location. But I confess it is indeed a small price to pay to keep terrorists off the Capitol lawn.

This stamp is a little way west of the one above, on the other end of the parking lot.
The above stamp in context (lower left).

There are several stamps out in front of PHP, including the neater one in the first photo, but I have to admit that I find the haphazard placement of the stamps in the second two photos – especially the way the date managed to end up in there twice – amusing and even somewhat endearing.

This one is actually on a smaller (maybe half-sized) slab; sorry I didn’t get a contextual picture this time, but it’s a little bit west of the one above.

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E. Kalamazoo St., Don Bates, 1987

There are two of these stamps in front of the apartments across from Hunter Park, on the north side of East Kalamazoo Street between Holmes and Clifford. Although I pass those apartments all the time, I would not have been able to tell you what the complex was called until I looked it up this evening. Apparently they are the Beverly Place Apartments.

Both stamps are pretty worn. On one of them the name is harder to read but the date is clear. On the other, the name is fairly clear but the last digit of the date is illegible. Putting them together, I get Don Bates, 1987.

The stamp in the top photograph is located in the nearest almost-full slab in this one..

I haven’t found out anything about Don Bates. I will say I am surprised to see a 1987 stamp from someone besides Cantu & Sons (and there is at least one Cantu stamp on this block).

This stamp is a little way east of the one above.
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E. Michigan Ave., B & B, 1985

This rather rustic-looking stamp is on the south side of East Michigan Avenue between Clifford and Holmes (but much closer to Clifford – really between Clifford and Rosamond, if Rosamond were to extend up to Michigan). It is smaller in size than most stamps, and also faces sideways relative to traffic heading east-west along Michigan.

B & B Construction no longer appears to be in business, but I find that it was based in Holt during this time period, and also that it sponsored a men’s slow pitch softball team. As I’ve mentioned before, it seems like I turn up as many of these businesses on the sports page as anywhere else. The May 18, 1985 Lansing State Journal reported that B & B lost to Popeyes, 11-8. The last reference I see to a business that is probably the same B & B is in the May 18, 1998 LSJ classifieds: “We lay block, brick, do flatwork & pole barns. Free estimates, 20 yrs. exp.” (There is a B & B Concrete Placement in the Detroit area, but I assume that is a different business.)

Facing south toward the office.

This one is out in front of the offices of the Unity Spiritual Center church, one of those charming old house-turned-office buildings that pepper Michigan Avenue. The house was built in 1906.

Looking southeast.
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E. Kalamazoo St., Ameri-Construction, 1982

This sidewalk stamp is out in front of Hunter Park, which is to say, on the south side of East Kalamazoo Street between Holmes and Clifford. The date is hard to read in my photo, but it is 1982.

This is the only stamp from Ameri-Const. Co. that I have seen so far. I presume that is Ameri-Construction. I can find out little about the business. There is a new business announcement for Ameri-Construction in the January 14, 1991, Lansing State Journal, giving their address as 6800 State Road, East Lansing. That address is actually in Bath Township, near Park Lake. One might assume it must be a different company due to the later date, but more likely it is the same company re-establishing, since there is again a new business announcement on January 15, 1996, also establishing Ameri-Construction at 6800 State Road.

I can’t find any earlier new business listings, but on May 20, 1981, I find a classified advertisement from Ameri-Construction seeking someone to do concrete and carpentry work, “experience preferred.” Unfortunately, no address is listed. On June 23, 1986, Ameri-Construction appears on the sports page, as their softball team was facing off against The Polack Corp. On the same page I notice that Clark Construction was also fielding a team. It seems like a good number of the businesses I’ve written about so far had softball or baseball teams. One unexpected consequence of this project has been learning how big amateur baseball and softball used to be in Lansing.

I’m sorry; this would have been a lot more picturesque had I been walking in daytime. It’s a fairly large park with a big sunny area in the center where I sometimes fly my kite, a pool near the back, a public greenhouse, and a shady grove of trees. So in other words, it’s pretty nice.

Hunter Park is the park I visit most often on my walks. It has an outdoor pool, which no doubt figures prominently in the summers of the children who live in the apartments across the street as well as the surrounding neighborhoods. According to a fascinating report on Lansing parks development from 1969 that I turned up while researching this post (and which I lost a good chunk of time to poring over this evening), Hunter Park was established in 1940.

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Cantu & Sons, Horton St., 1987

There are lots of Cantu & Sons stamps on Horton Street (and indeed, everywhere in the neighborhood, as I’ve mentioned before) including this one on the east side of the street between Jerome and the northern dead end. Several just like this one are near the 1944 DPW stamp I previously featured.

What’s interesting about this one is the fact that Cantu & Sons apparently got a new style of stamp midway through 1987. Some 1987 stamps, and all 1988 stamps I have seen, just have “Cantu & Sons” and the date; other 1987 stamps, like this one, add “Cement Cont.” My guess is that this represents a name change. They may have dropped “Cement Contractors” as their business expanded beyond cement. Perhaps this was a pivotal moment on their way to becoming the Cantu Builders of today.

Update 3/11/21: I have discovered that Google maps has lied to me, and Horton is an Avenue, not a Street.