mcclain – Capital City Sidewalks

Posted on February 24, 2024 by bunnyhugger

E. Kalamazoo St., McClain, illegible date

At first I thought this one was just plain illegible, but after studying my photo at home, I realized it is probably McClain. I have done them before, and their other stamps have also tended to be blurry. The date is hopeless.

It’s in front of Edge Partnerships, a PR firm, on the north side of East Kalamazoo Street between Grand and Washington. This building was formerly home to longtime business Wolverine Typewriter. I am not sure when they first opened and finally closed, but as they were in this location from at least 1949-2001, their employees probably saw this sidewalk laid.

Posted on August 16, 2021 by bunnyhugger

N. Magnolia Ave., McClain Cement Const., 1999

This stamp is on a driveway on the east side of North Magnolia Avenue between Fernwood and Saginaw. The date is much more legible than the previous McClain driveway stamp I found on Marshall, but their similarity reinforces my belief that the other one is also 1999.

The stamp in context (looking north), at the bottom of the driveway. Bonus C. Gossett (1960) and Barnhart & Sons (1987) stamps are also visible.

Posted on May 2, 2021May 2, 2021 by bunnyhugger

Bingham St., McClain, 1983(?)

This stamp is on the east side of Bingham Street between Eureka and Prospect. There are several of them along this stretch of Bingham. As noted on my previous McClain entry (that one depicting a very different stamp), I haven’t been able to learn much about the company.

The date is quite unclear, but one of the other ones on the block has a clearer “8” that makes me confident it is 1980s. It looks like 1983 to me but I can’t be confident of the last digit.

A nice, sunny May Day on Bingham Street, looking north.

Posted on March 6, 2021March 6, 2021 by bunnyhugger

Marshall St., McClain Cement Const., illegible date

The other day while walking past the illegible mark by the old Pagoda Restaurant, I caught it in some good light (and no longer muddy) and realized I could make out an M in the name, which when combined with the legible trailing -LAIN made me suspect McLain. So when I walked past a house with “McClain” on the front walk last night (on the east side of Marshall Street between Jerome and the Armory entrance), I made a note to return in daylight, thinking it might let me crack the Pagoda stamp.

Alas, no. While the date is difficult to read, it doesn’t look like it is probably in the right time frame to be the same company as the 1950 -LAIN stamp, nor is the typography similar. It looks like it might be 1999 (it’s certainly not 1909 even if it does look like it). I can find remnant traces of a McClain Concrete (not Cement) Construction in Lansing. There are classified ads for them appearing in the Lansing State Journal from 2006 to 2009 which give sidewalks as one of their specialties.