E. J. Rugg House, 319 Grove St. (1904)

This article has been newly revised and expanded as of 2 June 2025.

In 1898, Edwin J. and Margaret Rugg moved with their young daughter Jennie (M.A.C. w/’14) from the Reading area of Hillsdale County to a new home on Michigan Avenue, directly across from the Agricultural College. The site would soon become the southwest corner of Brooks’ Addition to College Delta. In that house—later addressed as 186 Michigan Avenue and, still later, as 512 Michigan—the Ruggs became what Towar described as “pioneers in the rooming and boarding house business.” That original house no longer stands. In 1900, E. J. Rugg was elected as the first assessor of the fractional school district that later became East Lansing Public Schools.¹

In spring 1904, the Ruggs sold their Michigan Avenue home and temporarily moved into the White Elephant while contractor William Britten built their new residence. Completed that November at a cost of about $2,800, the new house stood on Grand River Avenue, three lots west of M.A.C. Avenue.^{† 2}

The Ruggs continued renting out spare rooms to students at their new address; whether meals were included is unclear. When they relocated to Chicago in 1911 and sold the house, it transitioned into a full-time rooming house. For the 1915–16 school year, it served as the home of the Phylean Literary Society.^{†† 3}

In its last year or two on Grand River Avenue, the house also hosted the Wildwood Tea Rooms, operated by sisters Lulu and Iza Bell Smith.

Initially addressed as 324 Grand River Avenue, the house was briefly renumbered as 201 East Grand River before being moved due north to its current spot on Grove Street around 1921. The move made way for the construction of the J. A. Hicks Block (1922–2017). The house has remained a rental property ever since.

Although it has undergone some alterations—including a smaller front porch, the addition of a secondary front entrance, and a porte cochere replacing what had been an enclosed side entry—some of its original decorative elements remain, such as the variegated clapboards in the gables.

1. Towar, p. 44. LSR, 17 Dec 1897, p. 2; 26 Jun 1900, p. 5. ↩︎
2. LJ, 16 Aug 1904, p. 8. LSR, 16 Aug 1904, p. 5; 18 Aug 1904, p. 8; 9 Nov 1904, p. 6. ↩︎
3. FSD (1909), p. 19, etc.; (1915), p. 59. LSJ, 7 Feb 1911, p. 11; 2 Dec 1911, p. 7. ↩︎

1. † City records list the build date as 1892, and East Lansing Historic Commission documents cite 1903, but both appear to be in error. Multiple 1904 newspaper reports—including the award of the building contract to William Britten in August and move-in reports in November—confirm that the house was constructed in the latter half of 1904.↩︎
2. †† For more on the literary societies and their evolution into fraternities and sororities, see The Literary Societies and U.L.S. House.↩︎