Introduction

Origins

The City

Collegeville (1887, 1895)
College Delta (1898, 1899)
Oakwood (1899)
Cedar Banks (1900)
College Grove (1903)
Fairview (1904, 1905)
College Heights (1904)

Charter of 1907

Avondale (1913)
Bungalow Knolls (1916)
Chesterfield Hills (1916)
Ardson (1919)
Ridgeley Park (1921)
Strathmore (1925)
Glen Cairn (1926)
Bailey (1927)
Touraine (1927)

The Campus

Chronology

Interactive Map

Sites on the National and State Historic Registers

Complete list of
Significant Structures

Sources

Harrison family

The Harrison family home was built in 1865 facing the unpaved lane that became Michigan Avenue. By the time it was razed in 1964 for a road widening, it was addressed as 1111 Michigan Avenue and the Brody residence hall complex was immediately to its east.
Photo Credit: City of East Lansing. Reprinted in Miller, p. 24.

The Harrison family — Almond, Eliza, their two daughters and four of their five sons — moved to the area in the early 1860s from Lenawee County and settled on 120 acres of farmland south of Michigan Avenue. The farm was bounded on the east and south by the Red Cedar River and included the sectional road that today bears the family name.

The elder sons of Almond and Eliza expanded the family territory toward the south. George Harrison built the Peninsula Farm on the east side of Harrison Road, south of the oxbow bend in the Red Cedar River, where today stand the Breslin Center and other parts of the athletic complex. In an era when most residents kept a "home cow" for fresh milk, George was a pioneer in collective dairy farming. Kep Harrison's farm was across Harrison Road from the Peninsula Farm, on the site of the State Police post.[Towar, pp. 34-35]

The remaining son, Joel Harrison, nicknamed "Ping" because he sported an identical beard to that of Michigan Governor Hazen S. Pingree, retired as court stenographer of Lenawee County in 1896 and joined the rest of his family in these environs. That same year he built the first rooming house in the vicinity of the college, a massive two-and-a-half-story white brick affair at the southeast corner of Michigan Avenue and Harrison Road. Although its formal name was "Harrison Hall," it quickly became known as the "White Elephant." Ping Harrison also built a small store east of the White Elephant in 1898 and "became the pioneer merchant of Collegeville," selling "confectionery, soft drinks, tobacco, cigars and cigarettes." Both buildings ultimately fell into disrepair, were acquired by the college and demolished. Because of road widenings and the realignment of Harrison Road, the site of the White Elephant is today beneath the intersection of Harrison and eastbound Michigan Avenue.[Towar, p. 35. Miller, p. 24]

In 1900 the family platted a portion of their land into the Cedar Banks subdivision.

The two other sons of Almond and Eliza, along with five grandchildren, all attended M.A.C., graduating in various years.[Towar, p. 36]

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