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S. Huron St., Ypsilanti, illegible, 2006

I found this one outside a hotel where I went to a convention last weekend, the Marriott at Eagle Crest in Ypsilanti, off South Huron Street and James L. Hart Parkway. Unfortunately, the contractor name is illegible. It is [something] Concrete, and the style is extremely similar to the Audia Concrete stamps from the same year that I have found in Lansing. Audia is located in Milford, not too far from Ypsilanti, but I am pretty sure this is not them, because I thought I could make out an F in the otherwise illegible name. It is probably another contractor who bought their stamp from the same supplier.

Unfortunately I could not find another stamp in the expanse of concrete in front of the hotel so this one will have to remain a mystery.

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E. Michigan Ave., “Bill” graffiti, 2006

This small, almost modest bit of graffiti is in front of Bill Leech’s Repair Service on the north side of East Michigan Avenue between Clemens and Fairview. I am going to assume that Mr. Leech himself did this, absent evidence to the contrary.

Bill Leech’s Web site unfortunately does not give a history of the company and I can’t find much about them searching the Lansing State Journal. They have certainly been located here since before I moved to the city in 1999, and Open Corporates gives their incorporation date as October 19, 1983 (under the name Bill’s Appliance Service Center, Inc).

The stamp in context, in the corner of the block below the pot of Coleus plants and lamp post.

I really like the midcentury look of the storefront with its stone siding and angled doorway. According to the city’s parcel records, it was built in 1950. Prior to that, in the 1940s, there was… any guesses? Anyone? Yes, you are correct: there was a car dealer here, Ron LeButt Auto Sales. I first see an ad for Modern TV Center in the October 12, 1954, State Journal. The latest ad for Modern TV that I can find ran on August 1, 1970.

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Marshall St., Eastlund Concrete, 2006

This stamp is actually on the grounds of Eastern High School, on a curb cut in front of the school. There are lots of similar ones on the walks around the school as well as on the public sidewalks on Marshall Street and East Saginaw Street. They must date to when the school was built.

The building was constructed to house Pattengill Middle School, which became a “biotechnical” magnet school called Pattengill Academy when it moved there in 2007. It had previously been located on Jerome Street next to Eastern High School, but like so much of that neighborhood it ended up in the hands of Sparrow and was demolished to build a parking lot. Its original name when it opened in 1921 was East Junior High, but the following year it was renamed Pattengill Junior High.

Approaching Eastern High School from the south, via the sidewalk that extends from the dead end of Horton. (The stamp isn’t visible here. I just liked the pretty sky.)

Pattengill closed in 2013. Meanwhile, the original (1928) Eastern High School got sold to (guess who?) Sparrow, so in 2019, Eastern High School was moved into the former Pattengill building.

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E. Saginaw Hwy., Audia Concrete, 2006

This stamp is right on the southwest corner of East Saginaw Highway and Marshall Street, on the curb cut. I could equally have designated it as a Marshall Street stamp, but since it is in front of a building that faces Saginaw, the Army National Guard office, I let that break the tie.

Audia Concrete Construction (as their Facebook page calls them) or Audia Construction (as their Web site has it) is based in Milford. I know Milford best as the closest town to Kensington Park, the site of my most-loved elementary school field trip. The wild birds there would come and perch in your hand if you held out seed. Last I was there in the 2000s, they still did, and I imagine they still do. Anyway, more to the point, it’s in Oakland County, which means Audia came a long way to do this job.

The stamp isn’t visible in this photo because I am standing more or less right on it, facing the National Guard office to the southwest.

According to their Web site, Audia specializes in “concrete construction, excavation, underground utilities and site contract work” and was established in 1996.

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S. Ionia St., Albion, Eastlund Concrete, 2006

I took time out from visiting family in Albion for Easter to take a walk in and around Victory Park. I know from past experience that stamps are much rarer in Albion than in Lansing, suggesting they are not required by ordinance there. Most of the ones I found were Miller’s Cement, the same one I found during my Christmas visit. I found one other, on the curb cut leading from the east side of South Ionia Street south over West Oak Street. It’s our old friend Eastlund Concrete, a familiar sight in Lansing.

There’s a vacant lot here now, though Google’s street view shows a house here as recently as 2012. They cut the trees in front of it down too, more’s the pity.

Heading north on South Ionia.