hickory – Capital City Sidewalks

Posted on May 10, 2022 by bunnyhugger

Hickory St., illegible name, 1931

This is on the south side of Hickory Street between Jones and Holmes. I found it first over the winter, but the sidewalks were too slushy for me to have any hope of reading it. I waited to see if nicer weather would make it legible. Sadly, it did not. It was a beautiful day today and the sidewalk was as clear as it is going to get, and still the only legible part is the very clear date. There is a name there, but the only part I can read is an E at the beginning, and a suspected O at the end (perhaps part of Co.). Too bad.

Posted on April 9, 2022 by bunnyhugger

Hickory St., Illegible

This is somewhere around the fourth time I’ve gone to try to read this stamp, located on the south side of Hickory Street between Euclid and Pennsylvania. I really wonder what the resident here thinks about the person who keeps pulling up, getting out of the car, kicking at the sidewalk a bit, and then leaving again. Unfortunately, I think this one is uncrackable. It’s just too worn. I’ve tried different times a day and different sidewalk conditions, and I think all that’s left would be to use one of the tricks of gravestone readers and push aluminum foil into it. I’m not sure I quite have the nerve to do that because of the likelihood of having to explain to someone what I’m up to. I’m tempted, though.

It’s clearly old, not just because it’s worn but because of the style. The date looked (and felt; I traced my finger in it) like “10” on this visit. I’m almost positive the first digit is 1 but the second could be anything relatively round.

Posted on March 24, 2022 by bunnyhugger

Hickory St., V.D. Minnis, undated

I call this “undated” because I can’t make out a trace of a date marking, but it’s just as likely that it once had a date and it’s gotten worn away, as with other Minnis stamps. Anyway, this stamp reads (barely) “V.D. Minnis MFG Lansing” and is probably from sometime around the teens, since the Saga of the Bum Walks (1914) mentions V.D. Minnis as a city-approved (or disapproved in the case of Alderman Young) sidewalk contractor.

This stamp is on the north side of Hickory Street between Jones and Holmes.

Posted on February 24, 2022 by bunnyhugger

Hickory St., Illegible

I have tried so many times to get this old-looking stamp and today I failed yet again. It was too muddy the first time I saw it, then it was too icy, then it was too dark, then there was a dog loose and I was afraid to get close enough, now it’s too icy and too muddy. Here’s what I got, after peeling a stuck leaf off. I need the ice to finish melting and then a good rain to come and wash the grime off it.

I hope the resident here hasn’t noticed how many times I have pulled up in front of their house, stared at the sidewalk for a while, gotten back into the car, and driven off.

Posted on February 1, 2022 by bunnyhugger

Hickory St., BBRPCI, 1985

I failed trying to collect the interesting unknown stamp on Hickory Street again. It was too dark by the time I managed to get there after work, and the nearest street light was out. I had to settle for this BBRPCI stamp next door. This is on the south side of Hickory between Euclid and Pennsylvania. It’s also quite close to the J.F. Sowa home that I wrote about previously.

Thank you, whoever lives here, for salting your sidewalk!

While I was scouting, I heard a tremendous rumbling, which was a train coming on the nearby tracks, on the other side of Euclid. I walked to the end of the street to watch it. It was quite loud as it passed, reminding me of my parents’ old house (which I lived in during school breaks from college). It was close to the railroad tracks in Chelsea, and a train would go by every night. At first it woke me all the time, but eventually it didn’t anymore.

The stamp is not really visible here, but it’s near the lower edge of the photo.

The train passing. The top of Boji Tower is visible beyond.

Posted on October 22, 2021October 22, 2021 by bunnyhugger

Hickory St., SFC, 2010

This is a new contractor for the blog, and one of the newest stamps on the block of Hickory Street between Euclid and Pennsylvania. The stamp is on the north side of the street. It’s very sharp looking, with a hollow-letter style that I appreciate. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to figure out who the contractor is. If you know, drop me a line.

Posted on October 20, 2021 by bunnyhugger

Hickory St., [Illegible] Stone Co., undated(?)

I love running across really old, really worn stamps like this, even if there is an element of frustration to it when they are illegible. I almost didn’t see this one because it is so worn that only someone really looking for it (like me) would probably notice it at all. I can just make out “Stone Co.” as probably the second line. If there had been a date, I don’t see any sign of it now. The first line is totally illegible. My first thought is is of the Lansing Artificial Stone Co., but it has a very different style from the one I have found from that company, and the illegible part also doesn’t look long enough.

Alas, it will not be giving up its secrets to me. This is a block of houses that date from the late 1890s to early 1900s, so I would guess that this is one of the original pieces of sidewalk here.

Posted on October 19, 2021 by bunnyhugger

Hickory St., odd shaped sidewalk

Spots like this, where the sidewalk curves in to avoid an obstruction that is no longer present, are fairly common, but I notice them every time. I always wonder what was there and how long it’s been gone. I usually figure it’s a tree (because I have seen spots where the sidewalk does curve just like this for a tree), although this would be a somewhat odd placement for a street tree.

The driveway apron used to be narrower, as I can see from an old tax assessor’s photo, so apparently when it was widened the contractor added a little piece to fill in part of the semicircle.

This bit of sidewalk is on the north side of Hickory Street between Pennsylvania and Euclid. I walked this block for the first time this evening, so get ready for several days of Hickory photos.

Posted on August 7, 2021 by bunnyhugger

Hickory St., DPW, 1921

This Department of Public Works stamp is on the north side of Hickory Street between Jones and Holmes. I’ll always collect a diagonal DPW stamp; they seem almost always to be from 1921. This one has a further quirk in that the year has been stamped upside-down at a rather haphazard angle.

I suspect this one is actually a pair to another diagonal one a couple of lots east on Hickory, close to the corner of Holmes.

Posted on May 20, 2021 by bunnyhugger

Hickory St., M & D, undated

This stamp is very faded but the best I can figure is that it is “M & D Const.” It’s on the north side of Hickory Street between South Pennsylvania and Jones (close to Jones). Unfortunately it is undated.

According to OpenCorporates, there is an M & D Construction Company, Inc., based in Dearborn Heights. It was incorporated in 1968. It previously used the name “M & D Concrete Contractors, Inc.” I can also find the Facebook page of M & D Concrete LLC, based in Romulus. I’m not sure whether those are two different businesses. I’m also not confident they have anything to do with this stamp, since this would seem to be outside their likely service area.