Lansing (pronounced /ˈlænsɪŋ/ ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Michigan, and the state's sixth largest city. It is located about 80 miles (125 km) west-northwest of Detroit and is mostly in Ingham County, although small portions of the city extend into Eaton County. As of the July 1, 2008 Census Bureau estimate, it has a population of 113,968 and a Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) population of 454,035. The even larger Combined Statistical Area (CSA) population, which includes Shiawassee County, is estimated at 524,915.
The Lansing metropolitan area, colloquially referred to as "Mid-Michigan", is an important center for educational, cultural, governmental, business, and high-tech manufacturing institutions, including three medical schools (two human medicine and one veterinary), two nursing schools, two law schools including the nation's largest law school, a Big Ten Conference university (Michigan State), the state capital, the state Supreme Court and Court of Appeals, a federal court, the Library of Michigan and Historical Center, and headquarters of four national insurance companies.
Lansing is the only U.S. state capital (among the 44 located in counties) that is not also a county seat. The county seat of Ingham County is Mason, but the county maintains some offices in Lansing.
History
The area that is now Lansing was originally spotted by explorer Hugh Henward in 1790 while canoing the Grand River. The land that was to become Lansing was surveyed in 1825 in what was then dense forest. There would be no roads to this area for decades to come.
In the winter of 1835 and early 1836, two brothers from New York plotted the area now known as REO Town just south of downtown Lansing and named it "Biddle City." All of this land lay in a floodplain and was underwater during the majority of the year. Regardless, the brothers went back to New York, specifically Lansing, New York, to sell plots for the town that did not exist. They told the residents of Lansing, New York that this new "city" had an area of 65 blocks, contained a church and also a public and academic square. A group of 16 men bought plots in the nonexistent city and upon reaching the area later that year found they had been scammed. Many in the group too disappointed to stay ended up settling around what is now Metropolitan Lansing. Those who stayed quickly renamed the area "Lansing Township" in honor of their home village in New York.
The sleepy settlement of fewer than 20 people would remain dormant until the winter of 1847 when the state constitution required that the capital be moved from Detroit to a more centralized and safer location in the interior of the state since many were concerned about Detroit's close proximity to British-controlled Canada, which had captured Detroit in the War of 1812. The United States had recaptured the city in 1813, but these events led to the dire need to have the center of government relocated away from hostile British territory. In addition, there was also concern with Detroit's strong influence over Michigan politics, being the largest city in the state as well as the capital city.
During the multi-day session to determine a new location for the state capital, many cities, including Ann Arbor, Marshall, and Jackson, lobbied hard to win this designation. Unable to publicly reach a consensus due to constant political wrangling, the Michigan House of Representatives privately chose the Township of Lansing out of frustration. When announced, many present openly laughed that such an insignificant settlement was now the capital city of Michigan. Two months later, the governor William L. Greenly signed into law the act of the legislature officially making Lansing Township the state capital.
With the announcement that Lansing Township had been made the capital, the small village quickly transformed into the seat of state government. The legislature gave the settlement the temporary name of the "Town of Michigan". In April 1848, the legislature then gave the settlement the name of "Lansing". Within months after it became the capital city, individual settlements began to develop along three key points along the Grand River in the township.
"Lower Village/Town", where present-day Old Town stands, was the oldest of the three villages. It was home to the first house built in Lansing in 1843 by pioneer James Seymour and his family. Lower Town began to develop in 1847 with the completion of the Franklin Avenue (now Grand River Avenue) covered bridge over the Grand River.
"Upper Village/Town", where present-day REO Town stands at the confluence of the Grand River and the Red Cedar River. It began to take off in 1847 when the Main Street Bridge was constructed over the Grand River. This village's focal point was the Benton House, a 4-story hotel which opened in 1848. It was the first brick building in Lansing and was later razed in 1900.
"Middle Village/Town", where downtown Lansing now stands, was the last of the three villages to develop in 1848 with the completion of the Michigan Avenue bridge across the Grand River and the completion of the temporary capitol building which sat where Cooley Law School stands today on Capitol Avenue in between Allegan and Washtenaw Streets, and finally the relocation of the post office to the village in 1851. This area would grow to become larger than the other two villages up and down river. For a brief time the combined villages were referred to as "Michigan" but was officially named Lansing in 1848.
In 1859, the settlement having grown to nearly 3,000 and encompassing about 7 square miles (18 km 2 ) in area was incorporated as a city. The boundaries of the original city were Douglas Avenue to the north, Wood and Regent Streets to the east, Mount Hope Avenue to the south, and Jenison Avenue to the west. These boundaries would remain unchanged until 1916. Lansing began to grow steadily over the next two decades with the completion of the railroads through the city, a plank road, and the completion of the current capitol building in 1878.
Most of what is known as Lansing today is the direct result of the city becoming an industrial powerhouse which began with the founding of Olds Motor Vehicle Company in August 1897. The company went through many changes, including a buyout, between its founding to 1905 when founder Ransom E. Olds started his new company REO Motor Car Company, which would last in Lansing for another 70 years. Olds would be joined by the less successful Clarkmobile around 1903. Over the next decades, the city would see itself transformed into a major American industrial center for the manufacturing of automobiles and automobile parts among other industries. The city continued to grow in area too. By 1956, the city had grown to 15 square miles (39 km 2 ), and doubled in size over the next decade to its current size of roughly 33 square miles (85 km 2 ).
Today, the city's economy is now diversified among government service, healthcare, manufacturing, insurance, banking, and education.
Timeline
- 1825 – Lansing Township surveyed.
- 1836 – A pair of New York speculators plot and market a non-existent city known as "Biddle City." The New Yorkers that bought into the idea arrive in Lansing to discover that the plots they had bought are located in a marsh, and are underwater. Some of the pioneers stay, but develop a village in what is now Old Town Lansing a mile north of the non-existent "Biddle City."
- 1847 – The state capital moved from Detroit to Lansing Township.
- 1855 – Michigan State University is founded as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan.
- 1859 – The city of Lansing officially incorporated with about 3,000 citizens inside of 7.5 square miles (19 km 2 ).
- 1879 – New State Capitol dedicated. The structure cost $1,510,130.
- 1881 – Michigan Millers Insurance Company founded.
- 1897 – Ransom E. Olds drives his first car down a Lansing street. Later that year he founded the Olds Motor Vehicle Company, which became the Oldsmobile division of General Motors in 1908, and he was also the founder of the REO Motor Car Company in 1904, both headquartered in Lansing.
- 1904 – The "most extensive flood in 135 years of local history" causes the Grand River to overflow its banks in March 24–27, leading to major damage and one death. Bridges at Logan Street, Kalamazoo Street, Cedar Street and Mt. Hope Road are all washed away. The Kalamazoo St. bridge lodges against the Michigan Avenue bridge; it is later salvaged and re-erected at Kalamazoo Street.
- 1910 – The population of the city nearly doubles from the 1900 census to 31,229.
- 1912 – The Accident Fund Insurance Company of America founded.
- 1916 – Auto-Owners Insurance Company founded.
- 1929 – The Lansing Symphony Orchestra founded.
- 1940 – Lansing's population stagnates, only rising by 356 over the decade to 78,753.
- 1954 – Frandor Mall opens – first in the area, and second in the state.
- 1956 – The city re
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