Although today there are still a handful of houses remaining in Collegeville that pre-date College Delta,† only one received any attention from the East Lansing Historic Commission when it completed its initial survey in the 1980s: the Butterfield–Ayers House, built circa 1890–1895. Aside from its age, its significance is unclear.
The Butterfield namesake is unknown, even though there are two very significant Butterfields in the history of the College: Ira Butterfield was Secretary of the Board of Agriculture (1893–1999), and his son Kenyon Butterfield (M.A.C. ’91) was President of the College (1924–1928). However this author has found no indication that either one ever lived here. During Ira’s tenure both lived on campus at Faculty Row № 10, and Kenyon lived at № 6 as President.
The “Ayers” appellation comes from the East Lansing Historic Commission, one of many sources that use inconsistent spelling with regard to Orvil J. Ayrs (including the man himself). Around 1910 Orvil, along with his twin sister Olena and their widowed mother Laura, lived here. By 1916 they had moved to M.A.C. Avenue, where Orvil built several houses including the significant Ayrs House at 320 M.A.C. Avenue.1
The Butterfield–Ayers House is an East Lansing Landmark Structure.
- † One of those houses, 215 Beal Street, is listed in BS&A Online as having been built in 1861—long before Collegeville itself. Whether it has always stood there, or was moved to the property at a later date, is unknown to this author.
Other houses of interest include 127 Center St (1881), 140 Center St (1892), and 218 N. Harrison (1897).↩︎
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