Coffey Middle School/K-8
19300 Lindsay St, Detroit, MI 48235
-Abandoned 2010
|Legacy Page|
Security Cameras have been confirmed to be nonfunctional at this location. Cameras have been confirmed to be snipped and not connected to Panel. Along with no power to building or alarms. This follows abandonedcommercialdetroit’s 4 signs of abandonment scoping. Though the presence of cameras has been confirmed
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History of Coffey Middle School/K-8
Coffey Middle School later a K-8 School is an abandoned Detroit Public School on Detroit’s northwest side along Seven Mile Rd. nearby to Southfield Rd. Built in 1925 as a single story elementary school known today as the north wing. The original north wing could hold 180 students and was originally a kindergarten through 3rd grade. The city of Detroit annexed the school in 1926 from Reford Union School District. The school closed from 1933 to 1936 when only 35 students were in attendance at the school. However in the 1940s the population of the neighborhood around Coffey grew in population and the school was reopened. It was later expanded in 1954 with a modern utilitarian design and focused on usefulness over beauty in the case of Coffey it was a concrete design today these wings are known as the east and south wings. Though it is unknown when the school became a middle school it was likely in 1954 along with this expansion. Also in the 1954 expansion a Gymnasium and Auditorium would be added. In 1969 a protest broke out at the school along with many other Detroit schools in northwest Detroit. However this was later accounted in the media as rock throwing between white and black kids. The reason for the protest was against the death sentence of Fred Evans a black man that was sentenced to death from a all white 7 man jury. With the general decline of Detroit leading up to the early 2000s, Coffey was at half of it’s 1000 student capacity. By 2009 the student count at the school was 386 and with that Detroit Public Schools closed the school in 2010 along with many others between 2007 and 2012. In 2015 the school was sold to the city of Detroit via the Lank Bank. Extensive scrapping has put the condition of the school as some of the worst in the Detroit Public Schools system. Also in 2015 the school was supposed to be demolished but never was and still stands today in 2025.
Recollection from the author
I had always heard of Coffey, after all it’s one of the more notable Detroit Public Schools. Upon entering it for the first time it was crazy to see the long dark hallways with the small amount of light at each end. I think the most notable part of Coffey will go down for me is the crunchy titles on the floor that upon stepping on them would just crack. The Auditorium was a sight to see as well definitely one of the more notable seating areas we have explored on this page. The warped floors in this building were beyond done for and in need of repair. The final thing of note was the basement which looked straight out of the backrooms. All in all a very cool school that was way past repair due to the extensive scrapping the school had endured during abandonment.
Hallway on the first floor
Library Entrance
Library shot 1
Library Shot 2
A Analog Clock once hung high to tell students the time between passing time a common feature of middle schools up until around the time this school closed. Many Schools today use Digital Clocks
Many Classrooms are in very poor shape
This Classroom was likely once a science room
The Auditorium Seating
Auditorium shot 2
Auditorium shot 3
Auditorium shot 4
Auditorium shot 5
Auditorium shot 6
Auditorium shot 7 (close up of the stage)
Auditorium shot 8 (notice many seats have been burned or otherwise destoryed)
Auditorium shot 9 (From the back of the Auditorium)
Auditorium shot 10 (Side angle shot of Auditorium)
Many hallways like that of this one on the 2nd floor have had most tiles destroyed beyond repair which make a crunch sound upon walking on them
Staircase leading to 2nd floor
Doors next to Gymnasium leading to the north wing
The Gymnasium acted as a multipurpose room with a kitchen adjacent to the Gym
Much of the Gym has been destroyed from graffiti, scrapping, and natural decay
Gymnasium shot 3
Gymnasium shot 4
The North Wing is the worst of Condition of the whole school
Much of the floor has turned to ice and walls in in poor shape
Some lockers on the north wing have been rusted beyond repair
One of the rooms in the North Wing
That same room hosts a Certain still intact on one of the windows
Another room in the North Wing has had its chalkboard tagged over
The Kindergarten room host a bay view window one of the more notable parts of the building
Kindergarten room shot 2
Entrance to the school from North Wing
North Wing hallway looking towards the 1954 expansion
Camera on site have been confirmed to be snipped and non operational this one has additional been spray painted over. There is only two cameras on site
Staircase overlook
Hallway next to Staff lounge on the 2nd Floor
Many Lockers remain in place
Some Classrooms wood floors have wrapped similar to the Gymnasium
Many Rooms have had their glass smashed out of the doors
Many explorers and vandals have left there marks over the years
Some lockers are literally decaying from the metal outwards
One classroom in the corner of the building hosts a tv still on the wall
On the side of the TV the name of the school "Coffey" is present likely put on the side of the TV during the schools operation
Hallway on 2nd Floor
Boys Bathroom known as the Lavatory
Some Lockers have been scrapped out and the wall separating the lockers from the classroom is removed
2nd Floor nearby to staircase
Looking down that staircase
2nd Floor Hallway nearby to classroom 204
More lockers that have been decayed beyond repair
Staff Lounge Entrance
Staff Lounge room shot 1
Staff Lounge room shot 2
On the day we visited a snowstorm was in effect seen out the window