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Taft St., Cantu, 2002

I made this discovery while walking in and around Bancroft Park recently. It’s on the north side of Taft Street between Ohio and Indiana (Avenues, not States).

I know, you’re thinking, “Another Cantu stamp, big deal.” But look closer! It’s not a dime-a-dozen Cantu & Sons or even a Cantu & (singular) Son, but it’s Cantu simpliciter. While I know that Cantu Builders is the current name of the still-extant company, I had never turned up a stamp without Sons or Son. This is also the most recent Cantu stamp I’ve found, with the previous record-holder being one from 1993. I was beginning to think they didn’t do any sidewalk work after that.

I need to make some more trips into the north side and see what else I can find.

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Ohio Ave., illegible [Buonodono?], 1961

I decided to walk a bit in a different neighborhood, Old Town near Bancroft Park, to try to get some new stamps. I didn’t find anything entirely new there on a short jaunt, but I think this is another instance of the hard-to-read stamp on Elizabeth Street that I thought might read “Buonodono.” Unlike that one (which is undated) this one seems to bear a date of 1961.

It’s on Ohio Avenue near the northwest corner of Ohio and Taft.

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Dodge River Drive, BdWL, 1970

Here’s the last of the few stamps I collected while visiting the streets near the Turner Dodge House. It’s one of those mysterious BdWL stamps (I still don’t know what that stands for and will be really excited if I ever figure it out) and it’s on Dodge River Drive at the southeast corner of Black Court.

The stamp is a long younger than the house it’s in front of, which faces Black Court and was built in 1924.

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Black Ct., Martin J. Concrete, 2021

After collecting the stamps from James Street, I decided to walk a little way and see what else I could find, since I’m not very familiar with the neighborhood. I discovered a funny little curved stub of a street called Black Court between James and Dodge River Drive. It looked like the perfect street to find old sidewalks, but as I turned the corner I saw that I was too late. The sidewalks and curbs had clearly been reconstructed at the same time as the one on James, and so all the sidewalk stamps were Martin J. Concrete 2021. These are from the north side of the street in front of the house at the dead end.

Looking at the Google Street View, I can see that the previous sidewalk did not go quite to the curb like it does now. There was a tiny lawn strip, and the sidewalk was abnormally narrow. The curbs also looked shallower. It looks like a clear improvement, yet I have to admit I’m sorry that the new sidewalk lacks certain aesthetic qualities of the old. It used to end by curving gracefully up to the front walk of this house, instead of just truncating a little past it.

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James St., Martin J. Concrete, 2021

After visiting the Turner-Dodge House, I decided to walk around the vicinity a little in search of sidewalk stamps. I had walked this section of James Street looking for stamps in 2020 and didn’t find anything of note, but this time I found that the whole stretch of sidewalk had been redone, the sidewalk had been marked, and best of all, it was by a contractor as yet unknown in this blog.

Martin J. Concrete is based in Coopersville, as the stamp says, which is in the Grand Rapids metro area. Disappointingly, their Web site lacks a company history. They describe themselves as “a West Michigan based Concrete Road Contractor specializing in concrete road construction throughout the State of Michigan.” They also have a page showcasing various major sidewalk projects they have done as well as curb installation. That may be why they were hired for this particular job; the sidewalk here is one of those rare spots around the city (mostly, I assume, on the earliest streets) where there is no lawn extension, so the sidewalk is flush to the curb.

Sorry about the exposure. My camera’s light meter is broken and I don’t always remember to compensate for that.

The stamp uses a template I have seen very often in new sidewalk stamps. The city’s O & M department uses it, as well as numerous private contractors. It’s neat enough, but as a weird connoisseur of sidewalk markings I prefer them less standardized.

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East North Street (behind Turner-Dodge House), H & C, 2004

I was at the Turner-Dodge House for the Fairy Tale Festival on Saturday, and I noticed this H & C stamp on the sidewalk that leads from the rear of the house to the River Trail. It’s a little hard to read the date, but I think it is 2004.

The stamp in context (close to the bottom of the frame). You can see people leaving the Festival, as it has just ended.
And here’s the Turner-Dodge House, from whence the path leads.
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Downer St., Able Concrete, 2002

This is the last of the stamps I collected in my sweep of Downer between Woodruff and Hopkins. This one is on the east side of the street.

The block turned out to be a disappointment. Most of the sidewalk looked to be the same age and composition, but was unstamped, suggesting that none of it was properly marked when the subdivision was developed. Almost all of the newer-looking blocks are Able 2002 stamps like this one, except for the 2019 Eastlund stamps on the corner of Able and Hopkins and one extremely worn Moore and Trosper stamp from (if I read it right) the 1990s.

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Downer St., Mueller gas utility cover

On my recent sweep of Downer Street between Woodruff and Hopkins, I found this gas utility cover on the west side of the street.

I’m disappointed that Mueller doesn’t have a company history on their Web site, just this brief description: “Since 1857, the Mueller name has become known for innovative water distribution products of superior quality, many of which have become industry standards.  This leadership position has resulted in our valves or hydrants being specified in the 100 largest metropolitan areas in the United States.  We also provide distribution products for the natural gas industry.”

Fortunately, they do have a Wikipedia page, and from there I learn that the company was started by Hieronymous Mueller in Decatur, Illinois, as “H. Mueller, Gun Shop.” He then expanded into sewing machine and clock repairs. Eventually, he shifted focus to plumbing supplies and sold off the gun and sporting goods side of the business. The business sadly left Decatur in 2010 and moved their headquarters to Chattanooga, Tennessee (the location of one of the other companies they had acquired back in the 1930s).

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Downer St., Eastlund Concrete, 2019

As noted yesterday, I picked a block more or less randomly to stop at on my way home from work, and I ended up on Downer Street between Woodruff and Hopkins. There was disappointingly little of interest; yesterday’s mysterious driveway stamp is the best of it. The newest stamps on the block, from Eastlund Concrete, are from a section of sidewalk wrapping around the southwest corner of Downer and Hopkins.

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Downer St., unsigned, 1975

Sometimes I pick an unfamiliar block semi-randomly and divert to it on my way home from work to look for sidewalk stamps. This time I picked Downer Street between Woodruff and Hopkins. There wasn’t much of interest there, but I did find this driveway on the west side of the street. It has a year, 1975, stamped in each corner, but no contractor name. There is a matching driveway stamped with the same date in the corners on Elizabeth Street, undoubtedly the work of the same anonymous contractor.