The first school building for Eastern opened in 1901 at the intersection of Mack Avenue and East Grand Boulevard.

[5] In the fall of 1967 Eastern moved to a new building on East Lafayette and Mount Elliott,[5] and one year later was renamed Martin Luther King Jr. Senior High School, after the civil rights leader's assassination in April 1968.

The project turned the facility into a school that emphasized a science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) curriculum.

[11] In 2006, King won the Detroit City League championship trophy in men's swimming and diving.

[citation needed] In 2008, the King High School marching band raised over $400,000 (including a sponsorship from then U.S.