The development of cytoarchitecture in the lumbar spinal cord of mouse embryo between embryonic day 13 (E13) and E15 was studied by scanning and transmission electron microscopy. A pattern of two perpendicularly oriented sets of cellular elements was found in the intermediate zone at both E13 and E14. One set consisted of radially oriented processes that often originated from cell bodies in the ventricular zone. The second set consisted of cell bodies and processes that were oriented predominantly parallel to the neural tube margin and in the transverse plane. This set was termed circumferential elements and included most of the immature neurons. At E13, the circumferentially oriented cells were arranged into rostrocaudally compressed sheets or layers that were partially segregated one from another by flattened bundles of radially oriented processes. This pattern of orthogonally arranged circumferential and radial elements remained evident through E14 when the profuse growth of cellular processes began of obscure the identity of individual cells seen on the scanned surface. The exposed intermediate zone surface at E14 and E15 often has relatively flat transverse areas separated by ledges of broken tissues, indicating that most neurites grow in the transverse plane. These observations indicate that the sequential patterned development of an organized morphological substratum is an important factor in orienting neurite growth.