Famous people's places / Detroit – Northwest Detroit
Cooley High School
Closed – archive entry · 2010
A 1928 northwest Detroit high school that shaped S. Epatha Merkerson, Anita Darian, Black Milk, Boldy James and Peezy, demolished in 2026.
01 / The story of this place
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Thomas M. Cooley High School opened on September 4, 1928, on Detroit's northwest side, a three-story Mediterranean Revival building named for a former Michigan Supreme Court chief justice. Generations of Detroiters passed through its halls, including opera singer Anita Darian, who graduated in 1945, and actress S. Epatha Merkerson, a 1970 graduate later known for Law & Order. Decades later it shaped a wave of Detroit hip-hop: producer Black Milk and rapper Boldy James both attended in the late 1990s, and rapper Peezy started rapping here as a freshman in 2004. Detroit Public Schools closed Cooley in 2010 amid a massive budget crisis, and the empty building suffered years of fires, blight and vandalism, including a serious 2017 blaze that gutted its auditorium. After the district decided the cost of preserving any part of the building was too high, demolition began on August 4, 2026, clearing the way for a planned twenty-five-million-dollar sports complex on the site.
- Opened September 4, 1928, on Detroit's northwest side
- S. Epatha Merkerson graduated in 1970, Anita Darian in 1945
- Black Milk, Boldy James and Peezy all attended in the late 1990s and 2000s
- Closed by Detroit Public Schools in 2010
- Demolished starting August 4, 2026, for a planned sports complex
Famous Detroiters
Famous people tied to this place 7
Lexicon entries for the people who lived, worked, performed or liked to spend time here.
- Marshall Rosenberg 1934–2015 · psychologist, mediator
Studied here
The northwest-side high school where he graduated as valedictorian in 1952. Detroit Public Schools closed it in June 2010, and the Mediterranean Revival building no longer serves as a school.
- S. Epatha Merkerson born 1952 · actress
Studied here
Merkerson graduated from this northwest Detroit public high school in 1970; the school closed in 2010.
- Willie Green born 1981 · basketball player and coach
Studied here
The Detroit high school he graduated from in 1999; its current operating status was not verified for this entry.
- Anita Darian 1927–2015 · soprano, actress
Studied here
Northwest Detroit high school where Darian graduated in 1945; closed by Detroit Public Schools in 2010.
- Black Milk born 1983 · rapper, record producer
Studied here
His 1928 Mediterranean Revival high school; it closed in 2010, burned in 2017 and was demolished in August 2026 for a community complex.
- Boldy James born 1982 · rapper
Studied here
He attended briefly before dropping out; the school closed in 2010 and was demolished in August 2026.
- Peezy born 1991 · rapper
Studied here
He began rapping here as a freshman in 2004; the school closed in 2010 and was demolished in August 2026.
Sources & fact check · Checked: 2026-09-25
An independently written bilingual guide. This collection is not an attendance-based ranking.
03 / Events
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