Here is a new contractor for this blog, via a stamp located on the southeast corner of Jerome Street and Custer Avenue behind the Church of the Resurrection’s parking lot. It really is right on the corner so it’s impossible to designate this slab as uniquely on one street or the other, though the way it’s oriented would make it Custer. This is an interesting one, unfortunately undated. I can narrow down an earliest possible date – 1924 – but then things get fuzzy.
Most readers will be familiar with the legacy of Francis J. Corr, though might not know it. He was the Fran of Frandor (his wife Dorothy was the dor). He was the original owner and developer of Frandor, and one of his big wins was lining up Sears as an anchor before construction. It was a good run, Frankie. Speaking of good runs, Corr died in 1972 at the age of 92, according to a Lansing State Journal obituary on December 26 of that year. (I note that the person who clipped that article at Newspapers.com is username “mckrill” who previously supplied a source of clippings about sidewalk contractor W.H. McKrill. I don’t know what to make of this, except that there might be some connection between the McKrill and Corr families.)
The State Journal of January 7, 1945 has a piece titled “Executives of Corr Brothers Construction Firm.” It states that Corr Brothers Construction Firm had announced the addition of Francis J. Corr, Sr., as a partner. According to the article, Corr started in the construction business in 1911 as a partner in McHenry and Corr. When Gerald McHenry died in 1924, Corr continued the business under the name Francis J. Corr. Then in 1937 he brought his son, Francis J. Corr, Jr., into the business and changed the name to Francis J. Corr and Son. Finally, in 1944 he sold his interest in the business to his wife, Dorothy. It appears to have existed at least into the 1950s, since the May 11, 1956, State Journal reports that the Francis J. Corr company was involved in the Michigan State University stadium project. I assume that Francis Jr. stayed with the original company; the Corr Brothers business that Francis Sr. joined was run by two other sons.
