History of St Margert Mary/Hill of Calvary Missionary Baptist Church

St. Margaret Mary is a church on the East Side of Detroit, located near the City Airport. It was built in 1920, with a school addition added in 1923 . The booming church operated the school as a parochial school, which is one that teaches religious agendas; in the case of St. Margaret, it was a Catholic education . As the East Side of Detroit grew, so did the church and school . In 1930, a new, larger church was built and designed by Donaldson and Meier, who also created many Detroit Public Schools, including Cooley High School. For decades , the school thrived . However, during the 1960s, the East Side of Detroit began to decline, and the white flight of the Catholic population led to the church having only 50 attendees by 1980 . The school had closed nine years earlier, in 1970, due to the population drop. The school remains one of the last schools still standing in 2025 that was abandoned before 2000, as most Detroit schools closed between 2007 and 2012. St. Cyril 's, another church and school on the East Side of Detroit, closed its school portion in 1971 and was demolished in May of 2003. The church continued as St . Margaret Mary until 1982 when it closed by order of the Archdiocese. In 1984 , a new congregation took over the church under the name Hill of Calvary Missionary Baptist Church. Hill of Calvary operated until 2012 when someone broke into the church and attempted to burn it down . In 2025, both the church and the school still stand, though decayed; the school has sat abandoned for now 55 years, and the church has seen better days. Together, they stand as strong testaments to buildings of the 20th century.