Famous people's places / Inkster
Inkster High School
Closed – archive entry · 2013
Inkster's public high school, where five glee-club classmates formed the Marvelettes in 1960 before landing a Motown deal; the building closed in 2013 and was demolished in 2015.
01 / The story of this place
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Inkster High School opened on Middlebelt Road in 1952 to serve this working-class Detroit suburb, and by 1960 it had become the unlikely birthplace of one of Motown's earliest hit groups. Fifteen-year-old glee-club member Gladys Horton pulled together classmates Katherine Anderson, Georgeanna Tillman, Juanita Cowart, and Georgia Dobbins that fall to enter a school talent contest, and the group, soon joined by Wanda Young in Dobbins's place, became the Marvelettes. Their song "Please Mr. Postman," recorded not long after they left Inkster High, gave Motown its first number-one pop hit in 1961 and opened the door for the label's run of girl-group successes through the 1960s. The Inkster school district dissolved in 2013, closing the high school for good, and the vacant building was torn down in 2015. The site on Middlebelt Road has remained undeveloped since.
- Opened in 1952 on Middlebelt Road in Inkster
- Glee-club classmates formed the Marvelettes here in 1960
- The Marvelettes gave Motown its first number-one pop hit, "Please Mr. Postman" (1961)
- Closed in 2013 when the district dissolved; demolished in 2015
Famous Detroiters
Famous people tied to this place 5
Lexicon entries for the people who lived, worked, performed or liked to spend time here.
- Gladys Horton 1945–2011 · singer
Studied here
The Marvelettes formed here in 1960 among glee-club classmates. The school closed in 2013 and was demolished in 2015.
- Georgeanna Tillman 1944–1980 · singer
Studied here
The Marvelettes formed here in 1960 among glee-club classmates. The school closed in 2013 and was demolished in 2015.
- Wanda Young 1943–2021 · singer
Studied here
The Marvelettes formed here in 1960 among glee-club classmates. The school closed in 2013 and was demolished in 2015.
- Katherine Anderson 1944–2023 · singer
Studied here
The Marvelettes formed here in 1960 among glee-club classmates. The school closed in 2013 and was demolished in 2015.
- Juanita Cowart born 1944 · singer
Studied here
The Marvelettes formed here in 1960 among glee-club classmates. The school closed in 2013 and was demolished in 2015.
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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