This Eastlund Concrete stamp is on a curb cut leading to the walkway to the side (Prospect Street) door of the former Unity Church on the corner of Prospect and Holmes, which I’ve written some about previously.
I pass the former church a lot and I’m sad to see that it’s still in a state of abandonment after its fire in 2019. Someone bought it and got the zoning changed to allow it to be converted into apartments. Granted, I can’t see inside, but I have the impression that renovation activity ceased at least a year ago.
This is the next house east from my last entry, also on the south side of Prospect between Clifford and Lathrop, also on the driveway apron. It would be nice to think that perhaps they were doing all the driveways around this time and therefore I could date the eternally undateable William Haskins, but sadly I find it doubtful. The style of the Haskins stamps just doesn’t suggest 1980s to me.
Here’s a nice William Haskins stamp from a driveway apron on the south side of Prospect between Clifford and Lathrop. Sadly, like all Haskins stamps I’ve found, it is undated. I haven’t yet been able to find anything out about this contractor, who has a smattering of stamps around the east side.
Here is a minor curiosity on Prospect Street, near the northwest corner of Prospect and Fairview. The sidewalk is indented in two places, most likely where street trees once were. This property has apparently been very unlucky with street trees. There is a relatively small tree along this strip in the 2011 Google street view, but it doesn’t correspond with either of the cut-outs. Even that tree is gone by 2019. It’s a shame when there are gaps like this, but they’re going to keep growing, because sometime around a decade ago the City decided they would no longer replace street trees except where the property owner pays for the replacement. Landlords are not famous for caring about the urban canopy.
This hopelessly worn stamp is on a driveway apron on the south side of Prospect Street between Virginia and Holmes. The only part that can be made out is the date, which I am inclined to say is 1952, especially since that’s the year the house was built. I had hoped that I would be able to make something of the contractor name by tweaking the photo, but no luck. The style of the date marking is unfamiliar – it’s larger than most – so I wonder if it is a contractor I haven’t covered in the blog yet. Sadly, I’ll never know.
This is a rare stamp that I had overlooked in the past, probably because it’s on the side of Prospect Street that has no sidewalk. It’s on the apron of a driveway on the south side of Prospect, right across from where the T-intersection with Virginia is.
I can recognize the contractor’s name, J. DeHoney, based on the couple other DeHoney stamps I have found in the past, which were also on Prospect. The date is a lost cause, but based on my previous research on DeHoney, he was active in the 1950s and 60s. As noted in my previous entry, there is a classified ad in the December 14, 1951, Lansing State Journal for “CEMENT Basement floors, garage, slabs, footings and general concrete construction. Free estimates. Satisfaction assured. DeHoney and Forsberg.” At the time I wrote that entry, I did not yet recognize the name Forsberg, but now I do. DeHoney was most likely partnered with T.A. Forsberg, a big name in Lansing construction and real estate development.
More of the outer rim is visible on this one, but it’s still partly obscured. That’s too bad, since it apparently gives the maker’s name: “[Illegible] Co., Lansing, Michigan.” Maybe if I brought a garden trowel…
These two stamps are on the south side of Prospect Street between Virginia and Rosamond. One is on the driveway of a house and the other is on its front walk. (There is inexplicably no sidewalk on the south side of Prospect between Holmes and Clifford.)
The stamp on the driveway.
I can’t find anything out about Washburn Construction. I can find references to a Washburn Construction in Shelby (which is on the west side of the state between Whitehall and Ludington) but that is too far-flung to be likely. There is a Washburn Contracting Innovations in Almont (in the thumb region), but they appear to focus on carpentry. I doubt this was either of them.
The stamp on the front walk (which ends at the curb since there is no sidewalk).
The house itself (built in 1924) is extremely cute. This style of house, with the rounded roof and eyebrow dormers, isn’t common in the neighborhood. In fact, I don’t know of another one like it.
I love this house. And I kind of think this house loves me back.
I am pretty sure this is a Lansing DPS stamp. It’s on Prospect Street between Jones and Holmes, next to the former Unity Church at 230 South Holmes. I like to try to find out what was at a given site at the time a stamp was made, but I haven’t ended up with a clear picture of that. Right now, what’s there is the remnant of the church, which had a devastating fire in 2019. According to the Lansing State Journal (November 13, 2019), the congregation was to vote on whether to rebuild the church at that location or move. Staying would have required applying for a zoning variance, because the church had been grandfathered into an otherwise residential-zoned area and doing substantial renovation would result in losing this status. Evidently they decided to move. According to city records, they sold it to someone calling themselves “Homes on Holmes LLC” in April 2021. I don’t know what they’re planning to do with it, but they have filed for a “Commercial Change of Use Group.” Church leaders made a YouTube video saying goodbye to the building, showing the interior to be completely gutted.
Pardon the poor visibility. I was on one of my nighttime walks.
According to the Journal article, “The property […] has been home to a church since the early 20th century,” which falls short of asserting that this building has been there that long. It reads as midcentury to me, but I’m not an expert. The city’s online property records are no help, since they claim it was built in 2011, which it plainly was not. It was owned until 2006 by the Metaphysical Church of Christ, previously known as the Spiritual Episcopal Church. The earliest reference I can find to the address in the State Journal is in the April 27, 1968, church listings: “FIRST SPIRITUAL EPISCOPAL 230 S. Holmes St. Morning service, 10:30. Dedication of new church home.” This could mean the church itself was new or it was merely a new home for the congregation. So I have been unable to determine anything definitively.
The former church and its sign at the corner. The sidewalk block with this stamp is the nearest full block.
I’ve posted this one before, a long time ago; it was among my earliest entries. But when I passed it recently, the light on it was so perfect that I thought it deserved another outing. The photo, while nice, doesn’t quite get across how perfectly the shadows fell on it; in person, it caused the optical illusion that the letters were raised instead of inset.
This stamp is at the northeast corner of Prospect Street and Foster Avenue.
