The Hamlin School building was built in 1929 to replace a frame building that served the Avon Township School District #4 near the same location. In September 1928, property was acquired for the school from John and Harriet Dixon, and the new building was opened to students in 1929. The 1929 Hamlin building was originally a two-classroom school, but was expanded several times over the succeeding decades.Avon District #4, Hamlin, was was consolidated with the Rochester School District in 1949. The school was closed due to declining enrollment at the end of the 1982-83 school year, but was re-opened in 1986. In 1993, the students were moved to another facility to allow a complete renovation of the Hamlin building. The school is named for the family of John Fairchild Hamlin, a pioneer settler of the area; the school stands on land that was formerly part of the Hamlin farm.

Hamlin School, door on south elevation, 2020

Hamlin School, south and east elevations, 1929

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This one-story brick building was constructed in 1929 to serve the Avon Township #4 rural school district, also known locally as the Hamlin district.  The building stands on what was once part of the farm of Avon Township pioneer John Fairchild Hamlin.  The original building has been expanded several times to accommodate a growing school population.  The Hamlin rural district was consolidated with the Rochester Community Schools in 1949 and the building has served as an elementary school location for RCS since that time.

Hamlin School

Today, the Rochester Community School District has many modern school buildings, but in the community's agricultural past, the township map was checkered with small rural school districts, each operating their own buildings.  This tour provides a look at some of the surviving buildings from the rural school districts of our past, beginning with the 1848 Stony Creek schoolhouse, and including Rochester's 1889 school building, designed by renowned Michigan architect Claire Allen. The buildings on this tour are all currently used for educational purposes.

This school building was built in approximately 1848 to serve the students of Fractional School District #1, Avon and Shelby Townships. It was built on land owned by Nathaniel Millerd, a pioneer settler of the village of Stoney Creek. Two prominent citizens of Stoney Creek, Dr. Bertha Van Hoosen and Dr. Sarah Van Hoosen Jones, both attended this school. An addition was made to the school in approximately 1890, and a second addition was made in 1952. The school was closed about 1934 and the students sent to Rochester. In July 1948, the school board voted to re-open Stoney Creek school for the children of the village because of overcrowding in the Rochester school buildings. In the 1950s, the Stoney Creek district consolidated with Rochester Community Schools and the Stoney Creek building was once again closed. In 1974, Dr. Max Mallon suggested that restoration of the school be undertaken as a bicentennial project of the Rochester Community Schools. The building was restored to its 1850 appearance over a period of several years under Mallon's leadership, and was rededicated in May 1982. The building was then used to host classes for a week-long living history curriculum centering on the building's primary time period. Students dressed in period costume and teachers conducted lessons as they would have been presented in the 1850s. The schoolhouse is now operated as part of the Rochester Hills Museum at Van Hoosen Farm in a cooperative effort with Rochester Community Schools.

Stoney Creek School is a circa 1848 wood frame schoolhouse that was built to serve Fractional School District #1 of Avon and Shelby Townships.  The building is closely associated with the adjacent village of Stoney Creek, and served the children of the village until the district was consolidated with Rochester Community Schools in 1952. Today, the school is part of the Rochester Hills Museum at Van Hoosen Farm. The school received a Michigan Historical Marker in 2005.

Stoney Creek School

The Avon Township School District No. 7 School has been the location of a schoolhouse since at least 1836. The construction technique and presence of Gothic and Italianate styles of this newer building indicates it was probably built in the third quarter of the nineteenth century. The original school building was most likely a log or simple frame structure. Sometime in the mid- to late-nineteenth century, a schoolhouse of coursed stone was built on the site, and it was referred to in local newspaper accounts as both “District #7” and the “stone schoolhouse.” According to deed records, the quarter-acre at the corner of Tienken and Brewster Roads was leased to the school district for as long as the district occupied and used the property. For decades, the James and Charity Hayes farm surrounded the school property, but when Azariah Ross bought the former Hayes farm, Avon #7 became known colloquially as the “Ross District” or “Ross School.” The Ross school was closed after Avon District #7 and other rural districts in the township were consolidated with the Rochester school district in 1949. The building is now a private residence.

Rural Avon Township (now Rochester Hills) was divided for public education purposes into rural school districts under the Territory of Michigan's general school laws.  Avon School District #7 served students living west of Rochester Road and north of Tienken. For many years, the land surrounding the District #7 schoolhouse was the farm of James and Charity Hayes, but after Azariah Ross purchased the farm and became the school district's moderator, the school became colloquially known as the "Ross School."  The Ross schoolhouse was used until approximately 1946, and the district was consolidated with the Rochester Community Schools in 1949. The former Ross schoolhouse is now a private residence. 

Avon School District #7 - Ross School

A private academy was established at this site in 1847, and operated for a decade before being acquired by Avon School District #5 in 1857 and converted to a public school. The building was consumed in a presumed arson fire in 1888, causing the school district to make plans for a new, fireproof structure. While the school board was working on the new school during the 1888-1889 school year, high school classes were held in the Avon Township Hall and elementary grades met in the Adventist Church building.The oldest section of the Rochester Community Schools Administration Complex is the 1889 Harrison Building, built to replace the frame building on the same site which was destroyed in an arson fire in August 1888. In March 1889, the school board hired architect Claire Allen, then of Lansing, to design a new school building. The Rochester Era reported on March 1, 1889:"The school board have adopted the Claire Allen plan for schoolhouse and Mr. Allen is expected here today, to confer with the board."In April 1889, the school board awarded the contract for construction of the new building to an Ionia County firm. The Rochester Era reported as follows on April 19, 1889:[begin quote]The sealed proposals for building the new school house were opened last Monday, and Tuesday the contract was awarded to the lowest bidder, the firm of Seeley &amp; Throop, Lake Odessa, Ionia co., whose bid was $8,000. There were eleven proposals sent in to the building committee, some of the bids running as high as $9,500. The Smead system of heating and ventilation having been adopted and the apparatus already at the depot, the contractors will of course place the same in position at the proper time, under the building contract. Work will be commenced after the proper preliminaries connected with the business are gone through with, such as making out papers, etc.[end quote]Ground was broken for the new building in early May 1889. The Rochester Era reported as follows on May 3, 1889: "The ground was broken last Wednesday for the new school house and work will continue right along until the new structure is completed."Construction continued on through the summer and fall, and the new school was dedicated in November 1889.The dedication program for the building described it as follows:[begin quote]The building, which is brick, covers 70 square feet of ground, and is of modern architectural design, 60 feet high, from which float the Stars and Stripes, obtained by the pupils of the school through the Detroit Tribune.FIRST FLOORThere are four entrances to the building, the first floor being traversed by two spacious halls at right angles through the entire section of the structure. Upon this floor are two primary rooms 25 x 36 ft. each, and an intermediate room 25 x 32 ft. These are finished up in the very best style, with all the modern appurtenances and conveniences, including well-arranged wardrobes for teachers and pupils.SECOND FLOORSpacious halls and stairways of remarkably easy ascent and convenient landings lead to this floor. The high school room on the north side is 36 x 61 ft., airy, convenient and well-lighted with abundant windows, and furnished with ventilators, as are indeed all the rooms in the building. Connected by a wide arch, the library 12 x 18 ft., opens off from this room. The recitation room adjacent to this is 20 x 20, off from which is the Laboratory 12 x 20. Between the recitation room and the Laboratory is a sliding door, so arranged that the class in Science can view the apparatus in said Laboratory without passing into the room or leaving their seats, by the teacher simply pushing aside this slide, everything being arranged to suit the needs of the class in this particular direction. Wardrobes are conveniently arranged on this floor also. The first floor of the tower being used as a vestibule, the second floor of it is fitted up as an office for the principal and teachers, and also to be used for meetings of the school board. The entire building is heated and ventilated by the J. D. Smead &amp; Co., system, which has been thoroughly tested and found to be all that could be desired in its particular work. The entire cost of the structure, which is finished throughout in first-class style, is only $8000.[end quote]By 1907, the school building had become desperately overcrowded, and the district authorized a and addition on the north side of the building.By 1916, the need for separate quarters for the high school students had become apparent and a new building program was begun. The new school would stand adjacent the 1889 building on the corner of Wilcox and Fifth St. (now West University Drive) and allow the old building to be used exclusively for lower grades. The 1916 building was Rochester's first dedicated high school building.The trade journal American Contractor reported on February 5, 1916, on contracts awarded for the new school as follows:[begin quote]Rochester, Mich. -- High School: 2 sty. 96x56. Archts. Fisher Bros., Pontiac, Mich. John Jackson, secy. B. of E., Rochester. Gen. contr. let to John H. Patterson, Plymouth, Mich., at $21,584. Htg. to the American Warming &amp; Ventilating Co., Toledo, O., at $2,869. Plmg. to Wm. Tienken, Rochester, at $938. Elec. wiring to C.R. McCreedy, Rochester, at $232.[end quote]The Era reported on April 21, 1916:"Work on the new school building commenced Monday morning. It is being built on the high ground corner of Fifth and Wilcox streets, and will be most sightly." One week later, the paper noted: "Contractor Patterson has a large force of men working on the new school house." The Utica Sentinel reported on May 5, 1916: "Workmen, while excavating for the basement of the new Rochester high school, came upon a curiosity in the form of a cave which extended 12 feet back into the bank, about 12 feet below the surface of the ground."On October 6, 1916, the Rochester Era took to the front page to describe the new building in detail:[begin quote]Rochester and school district No. 5 have every reason to feel proud of their new high school building just completed, at a cost of $25,500, for it is one of the finest in Michigan for the money, and we take pleasure in giving a sketch of the building, together with a few items of interest concerning the same, that all may have a better idea of what the board of education have to show for the money expended by them in building this magnificent building. The building is 97x58 feet, fronting on Fifth street. The building is two story and basement, and is of face brick and stone construction. The auditorium is 40x54 feet, with a seating capacity of 300. It has a stage and two dressing rooms, and later a set of curtains and scenery will be put in for use of the school exclusively. The auditorium is on the second floor. The assembly room is on the first floor, and seats the 8th to 12th grades. It is 40x54 feet, and has three recitation rooms. On the first floor is a well-equipped library 13x21, and the superintendent's office 12x16, with toilet room off it. On the second floor is a lecture room 13x21, a fully equipped laboratory 17x21, with dark room 3x7, and four recitation rooms 20x22. Convenient halls and corridors run through the building, up and down. In the basement two large rooms have been set aside for future manual training and domestic science quarters. Here are also located the furnaces and coal room. The heating plant is the force blast system, air being changed six times an hour throughout the building operated by fans and a 5 h.p. electric motor. It is the last word in heating and ventilation There are electric lights and city water throughout the building. There is also a chemical laboratory on the second floor, fully equipped for experimental work. Sanitary drinking fountains are at convenient points about the building, while the toilet rooms are equipped with self-flushing seats. Fire escapes are provided, while the doors are provided with fire escape latches, which allow in case of fire a quick outlet through outside doors, opening outward. There are entrances on all four sides of the building, making it possible to empty the building in a few moments.[end quote]An addition was made to the new high school only four years later, in 1920. The Rochester Era reported on May 21, 1920: "The contract for the new high school addition has been let to John Patterson, of Plymouth, who built the original building. He takes it on a cost-plus 15 per cent plan and the contractor will take about $76,000. The heating has been let to Bryce, of Toledo, O."In 1928-29, a new building to house the junior high grades was built between the high school and the 1889 building, physically connecting both structures and creating one large school campus.In late 1933 and early 1934, a Depression-era Civil Works Administration (CWA) project was used to renovate and redecorate the building. Two art projects, a bas-relief mural by Leonard Jungwirth and a painted mural by Marvin Beerbohm, were also funded by Federal projects during this time. The old 1889 building was extensively remodeled at this time, and the school board voted to name it the William F. Harrison School in recognition of the man who had served as the school's custodian since 1897. Harrison remained at his post as school custodian for a total of 45 years, until his death in 1942.The expanded complex housed Rochester High School until the fall of 1957, when a new high school campus was opened at the corner of Walton and Livernois. Thereafter, the junior high grades expanded into the former high school. Central Junior High School occupied the building until 1973, when it was closed in favor of two new junior highs, Reuther and Van Hoosen. The school building was then repurposed to house the Rochester Community Schools administration offices.The Beerbohm mural, which was covered up during a 1961 renovation of the building, was rediscovered during the 1989-90 renovation of the building. It was seriously damaged, but was restored through the efforts of the Rochester-Avon Historical Society and was hung in the former gymnasium, now used as the Administration Building's meeting room.

The buildings that comprise the Rochester Community Schools Administration Complex were built as individual schools in 1889, 1916 and 1928, and were connected to create one large school campus. The site consists of the 1889 Harrison School building at the corner of Fourth and Wilcox Streets, the 1916 Rochester High School building at the corner of University Drive and Wilcox Street, and the 1928 building, which connects the 1889 and 1916 buildings. The site has been the location of a school building since 1847. The 1889 Harrison School building was placed on the Michigan Register of Historic Sites in 1987.

Rochester Community Schools Administration Complex

This building was erected in 1928 to serve the students of Avon Township School District #2, known as the Avon District (also sometimes known as the Wilcox District). The property for this school building was purchased by the Avon District #2 in 1925 from Theodore and Myrtle Wing for $599.00. A two-story, four-room building was erected at a cost of $32,000 and was opened tostudents in October of 1928. The Rochester Clarion issue of April 20, 1928, carried the following advertisement:[begin quote]BIDS WANTEDBids wanted by the Board of Education, School District No. 2 Fractional, Avon and Shelby Townships, Oakland and Macomb Counties, Michigan, for the construction of an elementary school building to be located on the west side of John R Road, one and one-half miles north of Auburn Road. Bids close at 7:00 p.m. Wednesday, April 25th. For complete instructions to bidders communicate with Verner, Wilhelm &amp; Molby, Architects and engineers, 824 Book Bldg., Detroit, Michigan.Mrs. Ada Toussaint, ModeratorR. F. D. No. 3Rochester, Michigan[end quote] The architects, Verner, Wilhelm &amp; Molby of Detroit, were also the designers of the Redford Theatre. In 1949, Avon District #2 was consolidated with the Rochester district. The former Avon School is now the home of Rochester Community Schools' Dr. John M. Schultz Educational Campus, and hosts the districts ACE (Alternative Education Center) High School program. While the current Rochester High School campus was under construction at the corner of Walton &amp; Livernois roads in 1956, Avon School was used as a temporary overflow for Rochester's junior high grades.

The Avon School building was built in 1928 to served Avon Fractional District #2. It was designed by the Detroit architecture firm of Vernor, Wilhelm & Molby. Avon District #2 was consolidated with the Rochester Community Schools in 1949. Today the historic school building forms the Rochester Community Schools' Dr. John H. Schultz Educational Campus, and hosts the Alternative Center for Education high school program.

Avon School

The Hamlin School building was built in 1929 to replace a frame building that served the Avon Township School District #4 near the same location. In September 1928, property was acquired for the school from John and Harriet Dixon, and the new building was opened to students in 1929. The 1929 Hamlin building was originally a two-classroom school, but was expanded several times over the succeeding decades. Avon District #4, Hamlin, was was consolidated with the Rochester School District in 1949. The school was closed due to declining enrollment at the end of the 1982-83 school year, but was re-opened in 1986. In 1993, the students were moved to another facility to allow a complete renovation of the Hamlin building. The school is named for the family of John Fairchild Hamlin, a pioneer settler of the area; the school stands on land that was formerly part of the Hamlin farm.

This building is the design of Michigan architect Frederick Daniels Madison (1888-1969), who was based in Royal Oak and began his professional practice in 1916. He worked for the well-known architectural firms of John Scott &amp; Co. and Louis Kamper before establishing his own practice. During his active career, Madison designed many school and government buildings. Among his designs were the old Oakland County Jail, Genesee County Court House, Royal Oak High School, and Royal Oak's Baldwin Theatre.The school is believed to have derived its name from Samuel Stiles, a farmer who owned property across South Boulevard on the corner opposite the school, in the northwest corner of section 3 of Troy Township. Around the turn of the twentieth century, the intersection of Livernois and South Boulevard was sometimes locally referred to as "Stiles Corners." A notable feature of the building is a set of Mother Goose murals on the interior walls, believed to have been a Depression-era art project.The Stiles school district was consolidated with other area rural school districts to form the Avondale Public Schools in September 1947. Thereafter, the school building was known as Stiles Elementary School, a part of the Avondale district. After the Avondale district closed the school in 1998, it leased the property to Oakland Steiner School. Steiner purchased the building outright in 2006 and saved the property from a proposed housing development.

This three-story, Collegiate Gothic-style school building was built in 1929 to serve Avon Fractional School District #11, locally known as the Stiles School District. The building was the design of Royal Oak architect Frederick D. Madison, who made a specialty of school buildings. It served the Stiles District until 1947, when Stiles was consolidated into the new Avondale School District, and thereafter served as an elementary school site for the Avondale district until 1998.

Historical School Buildings of Rochester and Rochester Hills, Michigan

Hamlin School

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