A Neighborhood with Two Names
For longtime Lansing residents, “West Lawn” is a name that carries the feel of an earlier city: modest homes, newly planted trees, broad residential streets, and families building their lives on the western side of town. Today, the neighborhood is generally known as Old Oakland, but its story began under the name Westlawn Subdivision.
The neighborhood occupies a compact area bordered by Willow Street to the north, Cawood Street to the east, Oakland Avenue and Old Oakland Avenue to the south, and Stanley Street to the west. Those boundaries remain the officially recognized limits of the Old Oakland neighborhood, even as nearby residents and community groups often think of the area in a broader Westside context. ([oldoaklandlansing.org](https://oldoaklandlansing.org/about/))
West Lawn is one of those Lansing places whose history is easy to miss because it is woven into everyday life. There is no single grand monument announcing its past. Instead, its heritage lives in the layout of the streets, the age of the houses, the names of the parks, and the quiet continuity of neighbors caring for the same blocks over generations.
The Origins of Westlawn Subdivision
Westlawn was developed in 1922, a period when Lansing was expanding rapidly beyond its older central neighborhoods. The city’s industrial growth—especially the rise of automobile manufacturing—created demand for housing close enough to employment centers but removed from the bustle of factories and downtown streets.
The subdivision was part of a larger pattern in early twentieth-century Lansing. Developers offered prospective homeowners the promise of modern houses, fresh air, lawns, and a stronger connection to nature than older urban blocks could provide. The name Westlawn likely reflected that sales-era language: “west” identified the neighborhood’s location, while “lawn” suggested open residential land and the tidy domestic ideal associated with new subdivisions.
The precise reason the developer chose “Westlawn” is not well documented, but the name fit the period. Lansing neighborhoods were often given names intended to evoke comfort, greenery, and upward mobility. The homes that followed helped turn what had once been peripheral land into a settled residential district.
Streets That Preserve Local History
One of the pleasures of walking through the former Westlawn area is noticing how the streets preserve the neighborhood’s development history.
Stanley Street, which forms the western edge of the neighborhood, has a particularly personal origin. Local Lansing street-name research attributes the name to the J. W. Bailey Company, which developed Westlawn. Bert J. Baker, an officer of the company, reportedly named the street in honor of his son, Stanley Baker. A street that now feels thoroughly civic and permanent therefore began as a family tribute connected to the people who shaped the subdivision. ([lugnut215.wordpress.com](https://lugnut215.wordpress.com/2017/07/20/naming-of-lansing-streets/))
Oakland Avenue, meanwhile, reflects Lansing’s tradition of using straightforward geographic and natural references in street naming. It gives the neighborhood part of its current identity, while Old Oakland Avenue preserves an older distinction in the street network.
Willow Street, Cawood Street, and the residential lanes between them reveal the practical design of the subdivision. The streets are smaller and more neighborhood-oriented than the major roads that carry traffic around them. That arrangement encourages the slower pace many residents associate with Old Oakland: children walking to a friend’s house, neighbors chatting from front porches, and pedestrians taking familiar routes through the community.
From Westlawn to Old Oakland
The neighborhood’s name changed over time, reflecting both the aging of the original subdivision and the community’s desire to define itself on its own terms. In 1988, the neighborhood was renamed Old Oakland by the Neighborhood Watch. The change distinguished the area from newer developments and emphasized its established character. ([oldoaklandlansing.org](https://oldoaklandlansing.org/garden-history/))
“Old Oakland” is a fitting name. By the late twentieth century, the subdivision was no longer a new housing project on the edge of Lansing. Its early homes had matured, its trees had grown tall, and generations of residents had added their own stories to the original plan.
The renaming also shows how neighborhood identity is not created only by developers or city planners. It is shaped by residents—through watch groups, neighborhood associations, block events, gardens, cleanups, and the simple decision to keep using a name that feels meaningful.
Parks and Open Space
The green spaces along Stanley Street are among the neighborhood’s most important landmarks. Dunnebacke Park and Rudolph and Dorothy Wilson Park help define the western edge of Old Oakland and provide places for recreation, informal gatherings, and everyday contact among neighbors. The neighborhood association describes these parks as part of the community’s western boundary, where residential streets meet a more open landscape. ([oldoaklandlansing.org](https://oldoaklandlansing.org/garden-history/))
The parks are valuable not only because of what they offer today, but also because they preserve a sense of breathing room in a developed part of the city. In an older neighborhood, even a small park can serve as a shared front yard—a place where the community’s history remains visible through mature trees, worn paths, and familiar routines.
Another modern expression of that community spirit is the Old Oakland Community Garden. Established in 2012 with support from the Greater Lansing Food Bank Garden Project, the garden was created by neighborhood residents who wanted to cultivate food, connection, and local pride. It is a fitting continuation of the neighborhood’s history: land first organized for homes is now also used to bring people together. ([oldoaklandlansing.org](https://oldoaklandlansing.org/garden-history/))
Community Through the Decades
Like many Lansing neighborhoods, West Lawn and Old Oakland have experienced periods of strong organization and quieter years. A formal neighborhood association once participated in the Lansing Neighborhood Council, but that organization dissolved in 2004 after participation declined. Residents nevertheless continued maintaining a Neighborhood Watch and organizing activities, eventually rebuilding community involvement around projects such as the garden and neighborhood events. ([oldoaklandlansing.org](https://oldoaklandlansing.org/garden-history/))
That pattern is part of the neighborhood’s heritage. Older urban communities rarely remain unchanged. Families move in and out, houses are remodeled, streets are repaired, and institutions rise and disappear. Yet the strongest neighborhoods find ways to carry their traditions forward without pretending that time has stood still.
In Old Oakland, the transition from Westlawn to a renewed neighborhood identity has been gradual rather than dramatic. The houses still reflect the early twentieth-century development boom. The streets still follow the original residential plan. The parks still offer room to gather. What has changed is the way residents use and understand the place.
Why West Lawn Still Matters
West Lawn matters because it tells a distinctly Lansing story: the story of a city growing outward, of working families seeking a stable home, and of residents turning a planned subdivision into a genuine community.
Its heritage is found in the details—the name Westlawn on old records, Stanley Street’s connection to the Bailey Company, the mature trees along neighborhood blocks, and the open spaces near Stanley Street. It is also found in the living traditions of Old Oakland: neighbors watching out for one another, gardeners sharing a plot, and residents preserving a sense of place in a changing city.
Today, someone walking along Oakland Avenue or Willow Street may see an ordinary residential neighborhood. A longtime Lansing resident sees more. They see the outline of a 1922 vision, the layers added by nearly a century of families, and the steady work of people who have chosen to keep the neighborhood connected.
That is what makes West Lawn special. Its history is not locked away in a museum. It is still being lived, one block, one garden, and one neighbor at a time.