In the spring of 1878, seven members of the Liggett family, headed by the Reverend James D. Liggett, settled in Detroit to establish a small, independent school for girls originally named The Detroit Home and Day School.
Opened in 1915 in a white frame house (still standing at 301 Roosevelt Place in Grosse Pointe), Grosse Pointe Country Day School served boys and girls from kindergarten through ninth grade.