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Historic district, Orchard Lake, since 1858

Orchard Lake Schools Historic District

Photographed standing in 2004

The Prep Building at St. Mary's Preparatory, Orchard Lake, Michigan, 2004 Photo: Gsgeorge, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Opened
1858
Style
Gothic
Standing
168 years

Orchard Lake Schools Historic District has stood on Indian Trail in Orchard Lake since 1858, 168 years and counting. Who built it, what makes it special and how to see it for yourself.

On the map

More photos of Orchard Lake Schools Historic District

Brigadier General Joseph Tarr Copeland, 1861 Photo: public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

What is there now

Standing

We checked building permits, sales, listings and the city's blight and demolition files on October 24, 2026. Nothing new at this address in the last two years.

The story

By Victoria Jackson, Editor in Chief Updated

Orchard Lake Schools Historic District opened in 1858, in the years when roads in from Detroit were plank and mud.

It was built in the Gothic style, and it still reads that way from the sidewalk.

The National Register of Historic Places listed it in 1982.

Go see it at Indian Trail. Photos never get the scale right.

The Michigan Military Academy, also known as M.M.A., was an all-boys military prep school in Orchard Lake Village, Oakland County, Michigan. It was founded in 1877 by J. Sumner Rogers and closed in 1908 due to bankruptcy. Some journalists have referred to the school as the Second West Point.

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Timeline

  1. 1858 Built Gothic, Tudor Revival
  2. 1908 Closed
  3. 1982 Listed on the National Register March 19, 1982
  4. 2026 Today 168 years and still standing

Where it is

Indian Trail, Orchard Lake

On this map

  1. Orchard Lake Schools Historic District This place
  2. Apple Island Historic Archaeological Site 0.8 mi

Street map from OpenStreetMap contributors

Around the block

Photo credits

Every photo on this page is used under its license, named here with its author and a link to the original.

  1. The Prep Building at St. Mary's Preparatory, Orchard Lake, Michigan, 2004 Photo: Gsgeorge, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
  2. Brigadier General Joseph Tarr Copeland, 1861 Photo: public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Sources

Facts only, gathered from these sources. The story above is written by Rebuild Detroit. Every photo names its author and license where it appears.