Detroit, Lansing and Lake Michigan Rail Road Detroit, Lansing and Lake Michigan Rail Road The Detroit, Lansing and Lake Michigan Railroad (DL&LM) is a defunct railroad which built and operated the first rail line between Detroit and the state capital Lansing. Though the corporation was short-lived, much of the route it placed in service is still in use by CSX. The DL&LM was formed April 11, 1871 by a merger of the Detroit, Howell and Lansing Railroad, the Ionia and Lansing Railroad, and the Ionia, Stanton and Northern Railroad. The DL&LM was sold under foreclosure on December 14, 1876 and reorganized under the name of Detroit, Lansing
Lansing, Michigan academic square. 16 men bought plots in the nonexistent city, and upon reaching the area later that year found they had been scammed. Many in the group too disappointed to stay ended up settling around what is now metropolitan Lansing. Those who stayed quickly renamed the area "Lansing Township" in honor of their home village in New York. The settlement of fewer than 20 people would remain dormant until the winter of 1847 when the state constitution required the capital be moved from Detroit to a more central and safer location in the state's interior; many were concerned about Detroit's