The Story of Lansing, Illinois
The land that is now Lansing and the surrounding area was once the homeland of the Native American tribes known as the Council of the Three Fires, (Potawatomi, Ojibwe, Odawa) as well as the Miami, Ho-Chunk, Menominee and the Illinois Confederation. Lansing and the surrounding area was made part of the Northwest Territory in 1787 and incorporated into the Indiana Territory in 1800. It was transferred to the Illinois Territory in 1809. In 1818, the Illinois Territory was admitted to the Union as a state. Cook County was created in 1831 and the townships platted in 1853.
The first family arrived in 1843, when August Hildebrandt, his wife and his son settled on a little farm near a creek south of Lansing. Settling in the Lansing area was an adventure. Most early settlers were of German and Dutch descent. They built their homes of logs and mud, which made the long winter months difficult. They endured mosquitoes and resultant malaria in the summer. These early settlers lived on the products from their own farms., and by 1862 had united to dig a drainage ditch to create suitable farmland out of the marshland. Agriculture sustained many families in the area then known as Oak Glen. Onions, tomatoes, beets, and spinach were among the crops farmed.
In 1846, the Lansing brothers, Henry, George and John, moved to this area from New York. At the outbreak of the Mexican War, Henry joined the army and served under General Taylor in the 16th Regiment. Henry returned to Lansing in 1864 and opened the first General Store. In 1865, Henry Lansing was named postmaster for the community and held that position until 1884. Like many other communities of that day, the settlers would call the community by the name of the postmaster. The Village came to be known as Lansing. Henry’s brother, John Lansing, laid out the town plat in 1865.
In 1850, the first documented business was the Union Hotel at what is now Ridge Road and Wentworth Avenue. Henry Lansing’s Store was located where the Ace Harward parking lot is now.
Brickyards became a base for the Lansing economy because of the vast amount of clay beneath the prairies. The first of four brickyards that came to Lansing opened in 1887.
The area was originally three districts – Oak Glen on the west end, Bernice to the North and Lansing. Lansing was incorporated in 1893 and included all three districts with a population of two hundred.
Telephone service began in 1911 and electricity in 1912. Natural gas services were provided in 1927, and Lansing began to purchase water from Hammond in 1937.
In 1930 the population of Lansing was 3,378. In 1940 it was 4,450. After WWII, the population grew drastically. Today, Lansing is still a friendly community with a population of near 30,000. Many churches, parks, service clubs, and schools welcome our new settlers to the Village.