Alaiedon Township, Michigan
Alaiedon Township is a civil township of Ingham County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the township population was 2,894.
Communities
German was an area of the township originally settled by immigrants from Germany.
The city of Lansing is to the northwest of the township and also controls a noncontiguous tract of land within the township along Interstate 96 under a conditional land transfer agreement. Much of the northern portion is considered to be part of the Greater Lansing urban area.
The city of Mason is to the south and has annexed land that was formerly within the township.
The unincorporated community of Holt in Delhi Charter Township is to the west and the unincorporated community of Okemos in Meridian Charter Township is to the north.
Michigan State University owns land in the northwest corner of the township.
History
The land that was to become the township was surveyed by a Musgrove Evans in 1827. James Phillips became the first person to settle in the township in December 1836 at a location known as Alaiedon Center. It was also known as German Settlement because most of its early residents were Germans. In 1837 the first settlement, Jefferson City, was platted and founded at what is today the Hagadorn and Lamb intersection along Mud Creek. The township was formally organized in 1842, and was named by Henry Schoolcraft, who came up with a pseudo Native American name he claimed meant "hill land for excellent living." At the time of its organization, the township consisted of what is today Lansing, Meridian, Delhi and Alaiedon townships. The aforementioned townships would be spun off in 1842 to give the township the boundaries it has to this day.
