Samuel B. Dixon School

From the National Register of Historic Places nomination form, written by Deborah M. Goldstein:

Samuel B. Dixon School, a six room unit, was constructed in 1930 to serve a newly developed area of the city that did not previously contain a school. The name was taken from a former elementary school that had been annexed from Hamtramck Township, located on the present Pershing High School site. Dixon was a Civil War Veteran and philanthropic contributor to the Grand Army of the Republic. A portion of the site for Dixon School had been annexed from Dearborn Township's School District Number One, while the remaining land consisted of numerous separate parcels purchased from individual landowners. When the school was opened, it served 240 students, and was completed at a cost of $100,000.

A survey conducted in 1936 indicated that 56% of the student body was of Polish heritage. During the Second World War, an increase in the population of the surrounding working-class neighborhood, combined with shortages in labor and materials that delayed the construction of an addition to the building, resulted in crowded conditions at Dixon School. The seventh and eighth grades were transferred to Tappan School, the fifth and sixth to Noble School, and the remaining grades operated on half-day sessions. Finally, in 1947, eight new classrooms were added, along with a gymnasium and lunchroom and additional office space. Several years later, however, half-day sessions resumed due to continued population growth, as the school reached a population of about 1,900 students. In 1956, Kosciuzco School was opened and students living west of Evergreen Road now attended classes there. In 1958, a junior high unit was added.

The Detroit architectural firm of Lane, Davenport and Meyer were the designers of the first unit from 1930 and modern addition to Dixon School from 1945-47.

Dixon School closed in 2010 due to declining enrollment. As recently as 2003 the school had 786 students; when it closed that number had fallen to 492.

The school was demolished in the summer of 2017.