St. Paul Lutheran Church began on March 31, 1873, as a Lutheran orphanage at University Avenue and Main Street. The following August, the Reverend George Speckhard became superintendent of the orphanage, pastor of the church, and instructor for deaf children. Oakland County recognizes St. Paul as its first Lutheran church. In 1875, the orphanage and school moved to Detroit while the congregation remained and worshiped in a former Baptist church. The congregation bought this property in 1886 and built a wooden chapel, with members doing much of the work, including felling logs and hauling them to a sawmill in Clawson. A day school opened with eleven students in 1916, and the cornerstone for a new brick church was laid on August 17, 1917. That 1917 church, dedicated on January 20, 1918, seated three hundred and was once the tallest building in Royal Oak; from its belfry, one could see the Ambassador Bridge, Belle Isle, and the Seven Sisters smokestacks. At that time, most services were held in German, and seating and Holy Communion were separated by gender. The congregation dedicated the present church on January 22, 1973, and it was designed to resemble an ancient ark plowing through water. The 1951 school building was designed by Fredrick Mason, whose Royal Oak work also includes the 1922 Washington Theatre and the 1927 Washington Square Building, and an additional school wing was completed in 1959.