Chace Newman House, 368 Oakhill Ave. (1908)

A man of many talents, Professor Chace Newman (July 27, 1871 – November 2, 1953) was first employed by the College in 1892, and taught engineering drawing and design for more than forty years until his retirement on September 1, 1939. He designed this house himself, his second in East Lansing (the first was on the Michigan Avenue side of the Delta). He taught Sunday School at Peoples Church and was one of East Lansing’s first Aldermen, as well as its first historian. He designed East Lansing’s first street numbering system in 1911 and revised it to its current form in 1920. For many years he even hand-lettered M.A.C. diplomas in Old English script.¹

Perhaps Newman’s greatest contribution to East Lansing history is a wonderfully detailed map of the young city made in 1913 and revised in 1915. The short alley behind the Newman home is labeled as “Tower Lane” on his map, and refers to the water tower that once stood at the top of the hill to serve the Oakwood subdivision.

Chace and Emma Young Newman’s daughter Ruth Emma Newman (M.A.C. ’22) was a teacher at Central School. She was about age 8 when the family built this house, and lived here until her death in 1990.²

The Chace Newman House is an East Lansing Landmark Structure.

1. Minutes, 20 Nov 1953, p. 3269. Yakeley, p. 17. ↩︎
2. Minutes, 20 Jun 1922, p. 540. Towne Courier, 20 May 1982. Ingham County Records. ↩︎