Some materials which were given to the Library many years past, and which often have creation dates in the 18th or 19th century, were housed unprocessed in the archives. This material was reviewed and housed in acid free folders and boxes and brief inventories were created. Some of this “Old Collection” material is gradually being processed, usually where there is an existing general collection which fits the scope of the materials.

A general historical collection related to Grand Rapids pioneer Lucius Lyon was defined as early as 2001/2002. With the creation of Coll. 279, the Old Collection materials which appear to have come down from Lyon's estate found an archival home.

The bulk of the holdings currently in this devised collection are those Old Collection holdings which it appears that Lyon owned and used. Some of these may be related to his work as a surveyor or as a statesman, while others appear to be of general interest. Some items have annotations which seem to indicate Lyon's ownership, while other materials are simply present in the overall set. The Old Collection accession number begins with “L2.” Each item is annotated with an accession number so that researchers can identify the Lyon Old Collection accession items.