Clay Office and Conference Center, Historic school building in Midtown Detroit, United States
The Clay Office and Conference Center is a two-story brick structure with a high basement and hipped roof, positioned on Martin Luther King Jr Boulevard in Midtown. The interior preserves original features including beaded wainscoting in hallways, wooden classroom doors topped with transom windows, and hardwood flooring throughout, with four classrooms per floor arranged around central hallways.
The building was constructed in 1888 by architect J.B. Tarleton to replace a wooden schoolhouse from 1873. It operated as Detroit's elementary school until 1923, when it ceased functioning as a traditional school.
The building reflects its roots in public education through its layout and original design details that visitors can still observe today. The way classrooms were arranged around hallways shows how schools functioned in the late 1800s for the local community.
The building is easy to locate from Martin Luther King Jr Boulevard due to its distinctive brick exterior and presence in the Midtown area. Visitors should look for the arched stone entryway at the front to identify the main entrance clearly.
The central pavilion features a distinctive arched stone entryway that stands out as the building's most notable architectural element. This type of arched entrance was uncommon in school buildings of that era and gives the entry a formal character.
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