About
Old Town

What We Do

Revitalization

• Write grants to provide and leverage funding and building rehabilitation
• Coordinate clean-up efforts
• Provide beautification efforts, including trash cans, flowers, hanging baskets and more
• Recruit and retain businesses that compliment the area and existing businesses
• Continue to make Old Town a walking and biking-friendly district

Promotion

• Publish monthly printed and online newsletters, as well as populate social networking sites
• Maintain www.iloveoldtown.org which features all the Old Town businesses, as well as a comprehensive calendar
• Conduct regular media interviews and obtain media coverage for Old Town happenings
• Draw thousands to the area with a diverse offering of special events and festivals
• Host grand openings and ribbon cuttings for new businesses
• Facilitate group advertising opportunities
• Market and brand our unique neighborhood with banners, flowers and advertising
• Create directories, maps and kiosks featuring member businesses

Advocacy

• Work with city officials to maintain roads, improve sidewalks and install historic street lighting
• Seek out funding to bring new and exciting features to the area including bike racks, playground equipment, sculptures, murals, creative signs and more

Communication

• Publish the Old Town Newsletter
• Host free monthly Wake Up Old Town! networking events
• Serve as an information resource center for businesses, residents and visitors

Education

• Provide internship opportunities
• Provide historic walking tours
• Facilitate visitation and educational programs with local schools

History

As in any small town, people who live and work in Old Town take pride in the history lessons their hometown offers them. Filled with hope and determination, sadness and success, the tale of Old Town’s ancestors is more intriguing each time it is revisited.

A surveying crew moving westward across Michigan in 1825 stopped along the Grand River Indian Trail at the apex of the Grand River. Their mission was to plot and chart land that would someday be known as Old Town. Eleven years later New York land speculators James Seymour and Jacob Cooley purchased the land from the federal government. In 1842, the area was officially named Lansing Township. Around the same time, John Burchard of Mason acquired a section of land from James Seymour. Burchard became the first residential settler in the Lansing area.

Burchard and his family settled into a small cabin along the Indian Trail on the corner of Cesar E. Chavez Avenue (formerly Grand River Avenue) and Center Street – in close proximity to where the former Arctic Corner stands today.

The Grand River’s first dam was built nearby in 1843 and was used to power the area’s first sawmill. Tragically, John Burchard drowned a year later, attempting to fix the dam.

Later that same year, Joab Page, his son and three daughters moved into the Burchard cabin. An addition was made to the home and it was used as a tavern for weary travelers. A Methodist minister conducted Lansing’s first church service in the living quarters of the cabin in 1845. The Page cabin also served as Lansing’s meeting hall and township court.

As the settlement of Lansing grew, James Seymour began to make improvements on his investment property. He financed the construction of the first wooden bridge across the Grand River. It connected the Grand River Indian Trail (present day Cesar E. Chavez Avenue) and the two forking paths on either side. Lansing’s first school was also built in the Old Town area, at the southeast corner of Franklin Avenue (Cesar E. Chavez Ave.) and Cedar Street (the site of the former Temple Club). The school also provided a meeting space for church congregations.

Seymour lobbied for the construction of the new State Capitol Building to be located within his holdings in the Old Town area. But in 1847, Governor William Greenly selected a site approximately two miles from Lansing’s original Old Town settlement. Seymour recovered quickly from the loss with new plans for the development of North Lansing – now known as Old Town. Realizing that traveling legislators would need temporary housing during their frequent trips to the capitol, Seymour began construction on a hotel at the corner of Franklin Avenue and Center Street. In January of 1848, The Seymour House opened for business in time for the first legislature session.

Over the next 150 years, Old Town saw many changes. Growth brought prosperity and a great blue-collar community. Visitors to Old Town often saw and heard “North Lansing against the World.” But, soon the boom came to an end. By the latter part of the twentieth century, Old Town had become a fragmented shell of the bustling area it once was. Buildings were abandoned or burned out. People lost interest in local downtowns across the country, and Old Town was no exception.

Some very dedicated people, including the late Robert Busby, decided that the decay of Old Town was unacceptable. For the last 30 years, these “urban pioneers” have been working hard to revitalize Old Town to make it a better place to live, work, and shop. In 1996, the Main Street program was established in Old Town. Since then, crime rates have fallen to the lowest in the city, building vacancy has dropped from 90 percent to less than 10 percent, and Old Town is proud to be a home to some of the finest art and entertainment venues in mid-Michigan. In 2006, Old Town was named a Michigan Main Street program area under Governor Granholm’s Cool Cities Initiative; it continues to operate under Main Street’s four point approach.

Together with several other partners, such as the Michigan Institute for Contemporary Arts (MICA) formerly the Old Town Business and Art Development Association (OTBADA), the City of Lansing, the Principal Shopping District (PSD)/Downtown Lansing, Inc., the Turner-Dodge House and others, Old Town has become a thriving environment of art, festivals, boutiques and creative businesses and residents dedicated to the revitalization of this historic district.

Through hard work and determination, Old Town has prospered and grown into one of the finest areas in mid-Michigan. Old Town may not have reached its full potential yet, but thanks to the support of the community, it is on its way.

Main Street America

Main Street America (MSA) leads a movement committed to strengthening communities through preservation-based economic development in older and historic downtowns and neighborhood commercial districts. Main Street was established as a program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 1980 as a way to address the myriad issues facing older and historic downtowns during that time. Working with a nationwide network of coordinating programs and local communities, Main Street has helped over 2,000 communities across the country bring economic vitality back downtown, while celebrating their historic character, and bringing communities together.

Michigan Main Street

Michigan Main Street (MMS) began in 2003 and is a Main Street America coordinating program. As a Main Street America coordinating program, MMS is affiliated with the National Main Street Center, which helps to lead a powerful, grassroots network consisting of over 40 coordinating programs and over 2,000 neighborhoods and communities across the country committed to creating high-quality places and to building stronger communities through preservation-based economic development.