Category: East Lansing History
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The East Lansing State Bank
More than six decades after the Michigan Agricultural College was founded, and more than nine years after the city of East Lansing was chartered, the community still lacked any local banking institutions. The nearest banks were in Lansing, and while the capital city had several savings banks to choose from, not one had a branch office…
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The State Theatre (1927–1984)
East Lansing’s first movie theatre was called the Elmac (an acronym of East Lansing Michigan Agricultural College). It was built around 1915 on the east side of Abbot Road, about a half block north of Grand River Avenue. The theatre only survived for a few years before closing its doors. Its building remains standing at…
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City Incorporation: The 1907 Charter
Within a few years of the turn of the twentieth century, it was becoming apparent that the burgeoning community around the Michigan Agricultural College needed to form its own corporate government. The township line, running along the center of Abbot Road, divided both the taxation and political bases, with Oakwood, College Delta, and Collegeville in Lansing Township, and College Grove and Fairview in…