This is the oldest school building in the city of Detroit. The city's school system dates from the 1830s. A frame school building was erected on this site in 1873 to provide an education to children living in this area. It was replaced in 1888 by the two-story rectangular building that you see. There is a high basement extending above the ground and demarked with a highly visible stone watertable. The front of the building on Martin Luther King Boulevard displays a round arched entry decorated in stone. There is a masonry tower that was, for about nine decades, topped with a wood cupola soaring above the hipped roof.
From 1888 until 1923 this was a Detroit elementary school. For the subsequent 8 years it served as an educational center for boys with discipline problems. Later it became an office building for the school system. In 1981, it was sold to a developer who gradually converted this former school building into an office building.
Michigan Historical Register: P25051, Listed September 8, 1982
National Register of Historic Sites: Listed July 8, 1982
Date of Erection: 1888
Architect: J. B. Tarleton
Style: Italianate
Location: 453 Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard
Photo: Ren Farley, September, 2002
Use in 2002: Begin remodeled into an office building.