Posted on by bunnyhugger

Elvin Ct., end of the sidewalk

File this under “curiosities.” This is the northern terminus of the sidewalk on the east side of Elvin Court. Ahead is the Armory.

What makes this a curiosity is that the sidewalk ends mid-lot without any apparent reasoning behind it. On the west side, the sidewalk ends at the end of the last house’s lot, providing a de facto path into the Armory grounds. Here, though, it ends in front of the house, but not at the front door (which is on the south side of the house). Why did they say “this far, and no farther”? Usually if a sidewalk doesn’t go to the end of the block, it ends at someone’s front walk.

There is another curiosity on Elvin Court, which it shares with Horton Street one block east. The street numbers on the northernmost end go up to 253 instead of topping out at 237 which is normal for a Lansing block. This is a consequence of the fact that the 200 block actually extends past Vine Street, which is usually the border between the 200 and 300 block. Although Vine doesn’t cross Elvin, the invisible extended line of absent cross streets is still usually taken to demarcate blocks and the house numbers change accordingly. But on Elvin and Horton, the 200 block continues north of this invisible line. If one were to walk due east from Horton’s 200 block, one would end up on the 300 block of Clemens. Most of the house numbering in Lansing is so satisfyingly orderly that I’m always a bit affronted when I find the odd exceptions.

Posted on by bunnyhugger

Elvin Ct., P. Beasley, 1960

Here’s another contractor I haven’t seen before, P. Beasley. I found this one while walking up and down Elvin Court to look at people’s Christmas lights, since there are several houses still decorated there. It’s on the east side of the street, between Jerome and the dead end. (That’s all of Elvin there is. It starts at Jerome and stops abruptly where the old Armory’s grounds begin.)

I did not find anything about P. Beasley, but I have a possible lead. I found several references to W.H. Beasley and Son, general contractors, in the Lansing State Journal between 1948 and 1951. They were connected with several civic projects, including building Midway Elementary School in Holt. Could P. Beasley be the “Son” of Beasley and Son?

Sorry, only a small lights display to look at here. The good ones were all behind me. This is looking north on Elvin. The old Armory building is visible past the end of the street.

Another piece of evidence suggests so. Find A Grave shows that there is a William Hosa Beasley buried in Chapel Hill Memorial Gardens in DeWitt. The symbol on his gravestone, and the fact that he is buried in the Masonic Garden section of the cemetery, shows that he was a Freemason, which would be quite fitting for a builder, if this is our man. This W.H. Beasley died in 1951, matching the fact that I do not see any references to Beasley and Son after that date. Perhaps P. Beasley was indeed the “Son” and carried on the business in his own name after the death of his father.

That’s a tidy enough story, but there is a major problem. Whoever has entered the family history into Find A Grave has W.H. Beasley as having one son named William W. So I am inclined to say that this W.H. Beasley is indeed the contractor I read about, but I doubt that P. Beasley was his son. Find A Grave’s information could be wrong, of course, but usually these are entered by people doing family genealogy and so it is likely based on census information or another semi-reliable source.

So alas, while I have learned a bit about W.H. Beasley, I have possibly learned nothing about this specific stamp. My research so often goes that way.