What is the history of Lansing, Michigan?
The area that is now Lansing was originally surveyed in 1825 in what was then some of the thickest, wildest woods in the region. There would be no roads to this area for decades to come. In the winter of 1835 and early 1836, two brothers from New York plotted the area now known as REO Town just south of downtown Lansing and named it “Biddle City.” All of this land lay in a floodplain and was underwater during most of the year. Regardless, the brothers went back to New York, specifically Lansing (town), New YorkLansing, New York, to sell plots for the town that did not exist. They told the residents of Lansing, New York that this new “city” had an area of 65 blocks, contained a church and also a public and academic square. A group of 16 men bought plots in the nonexistent city and upon reaching the area later that year found they had been scammed. Many in the group too disappointed to stay ended up settling around what is now Metropolitan Lansing. Those who stayed quickly renamed the ar
