LANSING

lansing, the capital of michigan, u.s.a., in ingham county, at the confluence of the grand and cedar rivers, about 85 m. w.n.w. of detroit and about 64 m. e.s.e. of grand rapids. pop. (1900) 16,485, of whom 2397 were foreign-born; (1910 census) 31,229. it is served by the michigan central, the lake shore & michigan southern, the grand trunk and the pere marquette railways, and by interurban electric lines. the grand river on its way through the city makes a horse-shoe bend round a moderately elevated plateau; this is the commercial centre of the city, and here, in a square covering 10 acres, is the state capitol, erected in 1873-1878 and containing the state library. on the opposite side of the river, farther n., and also extending across the southern portion of the city, are districts devoted largely to manufacturing. lansing has a public library and a city hospital. about 3 m. e. of the city, at east lansing, is the state agricultural college (coeducational), the oldest agricultural college in the united states, which was provided for by the state constitution of 1850, was organized in 1855 and opened in 1857. its engineering course was begun in 1885; a course in home economics for women was established in 1896; and a forestry course was opened in 1902. in connexion with the college there is an agricultural experiment station. lansing is the seat of the michigan school for the blind, and of the state industrial school for boys, formerly the reform school. the city has abundant water-power and is an important manufacturing centre. the value of the factory products increased from $2,942,306 in 1900 to $6,887,415 in 1904, or 134.1%. the municipality owns and operates the water-works and the electric-lighting plant. the place was selected as the site for the capital in 1847, when it was still covered with forests, and growth was slow until 1862, when the railways began to reach it. lansing was chartered as a city in 1859 and rechartered in 1893.