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

James DeLoss Towar House, 507 Abbot Rd. (1904)

J.D. Towar House, November 2003. Photo Credit: Kevin S. Forsyth.

J. D. Towar (M.A.C. '85) was born 26 September 1863 on the Towar family farm, north of East Lansing. The Towar farmhouse was "in one of the bends of Lake Lansing Road, across from the present Whitehills School; at one time it was the largest home in Ingham County. The dining-room wainscoting displayed 24 species of native Michigan wood."[Kestenbaum, p. 10]

Towar was instrumental in much of East Lansing's early development: he helped establish the East Lansing school district, took part in the incorporation of the City, and in 1933 wrote the History of the City of East Lansing, in which he claims to have been the one to suggest the city's name.

This house is the only survivor of the four East Lansing houses built and lived in by Towar; one other, formerly at 307 Abbot Road, was the first house completed on the Oakwood plat.[Towar, p. v.]

All content Copyright 1992 - 2008 by , unless otherwise noted.
This site is a work in progress and should be regarded as such. Use at your own risk.