Editing Alaiedon Township, Michigan (section)

==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.<ref name=History/> It was also known as German Settlement because most of its early residents were Germans.{{sfn|Romig|1986|page=13}} 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."<ref name=History>[http://alaiedontwp.com/history.htm Alaiedon Township website, "History" webpage, accessed April 18, 2010]</ref> At the time of its organization, the township consisted of what is today [[Lansing Charter Township, Michigan|Lansing]], [[Meridian Charter Township|Meridian]], [[Delhi Charter Township|Delhi]] and Alaiedon townships. The aforementioned townships would be spun off in 1842 to give the township the boundaries it has to this day.

The township's settlement pattern changed considerably in 1847, the same year the [[state capital]] was moved to [[Lansing Charter Township|Lansing Township]]. It was found that the town was never formally platted, and thus did not legally exist, preventing the settlement's residents from obtaining deeds to their properties. Subsequently, the town was abandoned and few traces remain of its existence today.<ref name=History/> In 1877, residents constructed a township hall on one-quarter of an acre of [[Ingham County]]'s "poor farm" that served as the township hall until 1959 when a new one was constructed at 2021 West Holt Road.

In 1998,<ref>Minutes of Board of Commissioners' Meeting, Lansing Board of Water and Light, Tuesday, September 22, 1998</ref> 2008,<ref>[http://council.cityoflansingmi.com/AGMN_Files/minutes/Minutes20080124.pdf Official Proceedings of the City Council, Legislative Matters, Resolutions, City of Lansing, January 24, 2008]</ref> and 2013,<ref>Official Proceedings of the City Council, Legislative Matters, Resolutions, City of Lansing, August 5, 2013</ref> the township entered into [[425 Agreement|PA 425 Agreements]], which conditionally transferred hundreds of acres of territory in the north-central part of the township to the city of Lansing to retain and expand the headquarters of [[Jackson National Life|Jackson National Life Insurance]].<ref name="Taxsharing">{{cite news |last1=VanHulle |first1=Lindsay |title=Plan Lands 1,000 Jobs |work=Lansing State Journal |publisher=Gannett Company |date=30 April 2013}}</ref>