Here is a nice East Jordan Iron Works water utility cover from the north side of Grand River Avenue just west of the mall. I wondered if the tree by the river was from the seal of Meridian Township, but no, it appears that their seal depicts a log cabin and a tipi.
I saw this utility cover depicting the seal of the city of Mount Pleasant on a recent walk there. As usual, it’s from the East Jordan Iron Works.
I failed to note the exact location, but it is somewhere on South Stockman Road near Sunset.
I stopped to check out the newly-renovated Speedway on East Michigan Avenue (the north side, between Clemens and Regent), which was on the eve of reopening. This had previously been famous as the only Speedway with no canopy. The canopy was torn off around 2010 when it became unsafe. I guess their new masters, 7-11, took one look at that and said “What the hell?” Anyway, I noticed this new storm sewer cover amidst the fresh asphalt.
What, no East Jordan Iron Works/EJ? Since the URL is conveniently provided right on the cover (I’m sure that won’t ever age badly) I checked out AquaShield Inc’s Web site. They are a lot younger than EJ, as they have a banner celebrating their 20th anniversary in 2019. Unlike EJ, they don’t just make the iron covers, but offer entire stormwater systems. Their About page doesn’t give much history, but they are based in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Ever since I saw the first one of these fire alarm/telegraph covers recently, suddenly I’m seeing there everywhere. I should start plotting them on a map and see if I can tell from that where the telegraph lines went. This one is half buried in mud at the moment and resides at the southeast corner of South Hayford Avenue and Kalamazoo Street.
I was walking past this telegraph/fire alarm utility cover on the northeast corner of South Hayford Avenue and Elizabeth Street, and I decided to try kicking dirt off it in order to read the rest of the manufacturer’s name.
It’s hard to see in the photo, but I was able to determine that the outer edge reads “Capital Casting Co., Lansing Michigan.” According to OpenCorporates, the Capital Casting Company was incorporated in 1905 and dissolved in 1986. Its registered address is given as 6869 West Grand River Avenue, which (if the numbering is the same) would be in the vicinity of the Capital Area Humane Society today. An article from the May 8, 1938, State Journal titled “Lansing has 65 little industries-from guns to automobile,” which Timothy Bowman has republished in his highly recommended local history blog, instead gives its address as 500 South Hosmer Street. Today that address belongs to Lansing Flooring Supplies, but the building is newer. A similar article on local industries from the February 4, 1973, State Journal does not mention Capital Casting.
Found another fire alarm and telegraph utility cover! This one is at the southwest corner of Prospect and South Holmes Streets.
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…
Here’s another sidewalkless sidewalk blog update, from the southwest corner of Kalamazoo and Magnolia. This seems to be the newest style of manhole covers around Lansing, and they look quite spiffy. They depict the city seal (or the city flag, as it’s the same image). The city’s flag and seal were adopted in 1994, replacing the previous, rather obscure flag. No one seems quite sure what the old flag even meant. It depicts a man felling a barren tree by a log cabin, with other bare stumps nearby, and a sunset in the background. The best explanation I have seen is that it depicted the sun setting on the pioneer era. Many found it to be a downbeat image (though it was surely not intended as such) so it is perhaps unsurprising that it was replaced with the current image, which, while inoffensive, also feels a bit too slick and corporate.
The manhole cover’s inner ring identifies its origin as our old friend “East Jordan Iron Works – East Jordan, Michigan, USA.”
This isn’t a sidewalk stamp and this time I don’t even have the excuse of it being on the sidewalk – it’s on the lawn extension (parkway, right of way, whatever you like to call it) at the northeast corner of Hayford Avenue and Elizabeth Street. It was just too cool not to share.
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).
This manhole cover is on the northeast corner of East Kalamazoo and Shepard Streets. There are several of this style around the neighborhood. When I first stopped to look at it, my brain was slow to make sense of the circular inscription; I could not readily orient myself to find the start and end of the word. Unfortunately it is just “ELECTRIC,” and there is no maker’s mark on this one.
