291 Durand St. (1926, but purported 1884)

In the East Lansing history book At the Campus Gate, a photograph of Station Terrace appears with this caption:

Station Terrace, which housed faculty bachelors and served as East Lansing’s Post Office from 1912 to 1923. Later it was moved to 291 Durand (corner of Ann Street); the “excess lumber” was used in building the house next door.

Kestenbaum, p. 139.

According to East Lansing historic commission documents, which refer to it as the “Old Post Office” and list it as a significant structure, the building at 291 Durand Street was originally constructed on campus in 1884.

This author is skeptical of both sources, for several reasons:

• The photo caption lacks any references.
• Station Terrace was built in 1892, not 1884.
• The buildings are very different in general form, and there are no obvious architectural elements of Station Terrace that appear on the exteriors of 291 Durand or its neighbor.
• The roof of 291 Durand is gabled rather than hipped and has a different pitch, implying it is significantly different in its internal structure from that of Station Terrace.
• City records list its build date as 1926, and the neighboring house as 1928. This directly contradicts the sources above, since city records consistently list buildings that have been moved with their original build dates, rather than their move dates.

Given all the discrepancies, much more evidence is needed to claim that Station Terrace and 291 Durand Street are the same building, beyond perhaps the former being a source of raw lumber for the latter. If such is the case, then in this author’s opinion recycling lumber to build new is not the same as “moving” an original structure.