Lansing is the capital of Michigan. Mostly in Ingham County, portions of the city extend into Eaton County and Clinton County. The city is the only state capital, among those located in counties, that is not also a county seat.

Although French-Canadian fur traders came through the area, along the Grand River, as early as 1790, it was the last of the townships in the county to be surveyed, and land was not made available until the fall of 1830.

Land purchases were made in 1835 by Frederick Bushnell, James Seymour, and Isaac and William H. Townsend, and two brothers, Jerry and William Ford, platted the townsite as Biddle City in 1836. The original plat is now known as REO Town, a Lansing district south of downtown. After platting the townsite, the brothers returned to New York to sell plots for a town that didn't exist. Sixteen people who bought plots arrived in the area later that year to learn that they had been scammed. Nevertheless, some stayed to settle in what was renamed Lansing Township in 1841.

Jacob F. Cooley, who acquired land in the area on November 2, 1837, built the first permanent home in the township, and the township was named by Joseph H. North, Jr., after his hometown of Lansing, in Tompkins County, New York.

In 1847, the state legislature voted to place the state capitol in Lansing Township, moving it from Detroit, and to name the site Michigan. From April 27, 1847, to April 20, 1848, its name and post office were Michigan, Michigan, although the township retained the name of Lansing. The first postmaster was George W. Peck. In 1848, the village was renamed Lansing, after the township.

As might be expected, Lansing grew quickly after being named the state capital, although some areas of what is now Lansing began as individual settlements. The Lower Village/Town, currently known as the Old Town district, was the oldest of three villages. The first house in Lansing was built there by James Seymour in 1843. The Upper Village/Town, now known as REO Town, was formed at the confluence of the Grand River and the Red Cedar River in 1847, when the Main Street Bridge was built over the Grand River. The Benton House, a four-story hotel, opened in 1848. The first brick building in Lansing, it was dismantled in 1900. The Middle Village/Town is now known as downtown Lansing, although it was the last of the three villages to be developed in 1848 when the Michigan Avenue Bridge was constructed across the Grand River and the State Capitol Building was completed.

With a population of three thousand, Lansing was incorporated as a city in 1859. Until 1916, its boundaries were limited to a seven square-mile area.

Lansing grew from a small settlement to a large village due to its designation as the state capital, but most of the growth that it shows today were the result of industrial development. The Olds Motor Vehicle Company was founded in Lansing in August of 1897. In 1905, Ransom E. Olds left Oldsmobile and founded the REO Motor Car Company, also in Lansing, a company that continued until 1975. Clarkmobile, a less successful company, operated in Lansing from 1902 to 1904. Over the next several years, other large and small industrial businesses opened in Lansing

The city is also home to several medical facilities, including Sparrow Hospital, which is affiliated with Michigan State University and its College of Human Medicine and College of Osteopathic Medicine, as well as McLaren-Greater Lansing Hospital, which is associated with the University of Michigan.

Although Michigan State University is situated in neighboring East Lansing, it has several facilities within the city. The Thomas M. Cooley Law School, the largest law school in the nation, is located in Lansing. Lansing Community College is headquartered in Lansing, although it has twenty-nine extension centers, as well as a site in Otsu, Japan. Western Michigan University, Davenport University, and Central Michigan University also have campuses in Lansing.

The Lansing School District is the primary public K-12 provider in Lansing. Other public school systems with campuses in the city include Grand Ledge Public Schools, Ingham Intermediate School District, Shabazz Public School Academy, and Waverly School District. Several private schools are also in Lansing, such as Capitol City Baptist School, Emanuel Lutheran School, Lansing Catholic High School, Lansing Christian Schools, New Covenant Christian School, and Our Savior Lutheran School.

The focus of this category is on the City of Lansing, Michigan. Online resources for governmental agencies or departments within the city, as well as local businesses, industries, schools, places of worship, organizations, attractions, events, and sporting and recreational opportunities are appropriate here.

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