Darius Bartlett Moon

Architect ● 1851-1931

Photo Courtesy of Jane North Bryce.

Darius Bartlett Moon is considered Lansing’s most noted and prolific architect and builder responsible for more than 260 structures in the Lansing area. Today, only a handful of examples of his work still stand.

Moon was born in Cattarugus, New York, to David and Mary Sands Moon in 1851, but shortly after his family moved to an undeveloped 80 acres in Delta Township, Eaton County. Darius, like his father, didn’t take well to farming and in 1868 he struck out on his own as a carpenter. In 1877, he became a contractor and married Ellen M. Sprague, a school teacher. By 1889, he was working as an architect in Lansing designing and building barns and houses.

In 1891, Moon moved to Chicago, leaving his wife and children behind, to work as an architect in the booming city in part due to the upcoming Chicago World’s Far of 1893. By 1893, his wanderlust took him back to Lansing where he landed several important commissions including the homes of Edward W. Sparrow, R.E. Olds, Benjamin Davis, and Henry Kositchek, and the redesign of the Dodge Mansion. He also designed the newly renovated Rogers-Carrier home at 528 N. Capitol Ave., now on the campus of Lansing Community College and soon to be the home of the Historical Society of Greater Lansing. In 1891, he built a beautiful home for himself situated on Logan St. In 1975, a group of committed preservationists saved it from deconstruction and helped arrange for it to be moved to Huron St., where it will stands. Moon was also an inventory and shared the patent for 1900 Combined Match Safe and Cigar Tip Cutter.