History of Campbell Elementary School

Campbell Elementary School is located along the Chene Corridor in Poletown East. Built in 1963, the school never received any additions and remains one of the more modern abandoned schools in Detroit. The school replaced the original Campbell School, which was built on the same land just west of the current school in 1874. The original Campbell School, commonly referred to as St. Aubin School for the street it was located on, was badly damaged in a fire in 1883 but was fully repaired. It received one addition throughout its life in 1906 and served the Detroit Public Schools until 1963 when it was closed and replaced and later demolished, paving the way for the new Campbell School that stands in its place today to take its place. Throughout its life the new Campbell School became a staple of Poletown East, despite being built during a time of significant decline in the neighborhood. While the design of the new Campbell School suggests an addition was made, official reports do not claim that any additions were ever made to the new Campbell School. When the school closed in 2010, it had a student population of only 207. For nearly a decade, it sat abandoned, enduring major arson fires throughout the Poletown East neighborhood and the growing plots of vacant land in the area. However, the Eastern Market purchased Campbell Elementary in 2019, but nothing has come of restoring the school, and today, in 2025, it remains abandoned.