[9][10] In response to increasing public pressure due to the changing needs of Baltimore's trade and commercial classes, political leaders introduced legislation authorizing establishing a high school.

"The High School" opened on October 20, 1839, and was initially housed in a rented building on Courtland Street (present-day Saint Paul Street/Place) "under the direction of Professor Nathan C. Brooks (1809–1898), a locally renowned Classics scholar.

The City Council in 1843 allocated $23,000 (equivalent to $755,970 in 2023)[13] to acquire the nearby Assembly Rooms building at the northeast corner of East Fayette and Holliday Streets for the new school.

The reorganized Central High had its first ceremonies with well-known influential civic citizen, orator and lawyer Severn Teackle Wallis (1816–1894), as its first commencement speaker.

with its longer curriculum and stricter academic standards was never granted the power during the later 1800s to confer Bachelor of Arts degrees, although for the following generations / decades, a Baltimore City College elaborate inscribed diploma frequently gave a graduate to be given advanced credit status in many American colleges and universities, such as the longtime special relationship between B.C.C and its adjacent neighbors at The Johns Hopkins University.

The council acquired a lot several blocks further northwest on the southwest corner of North Howard Street opposite West Centre Street and allocated $150,000 (equivalent to $3.47 million in 2023)[13] for the construction of the new building designed by Baltimore architect Edmund G. Lind and municipal architect George A. Frederick, who also designed the then-new monumental Baltimore City Hall under construction 1867–1875.

[17] The high school remained in its new building for 17 years when it was undermined in August 1892 by the underground construction of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's Howard Street tunnel causing the B.C.C.

In 1926, ground was broken for a massive Collegiate Gothic stone edifice designed by the local architects Buckler and Fenhagen (one of whom was a City College graduate himself) on renamed "Collegian Hill" at the southwest corner of newly laid-out boulevards with park-like landscaped median strips at 33rd Street and The Alameda.

[19] The main academic rubble stone building with limestone trim, featured cornices, cloisters, carved gargoyles and sculpture, arched huge tall windows with colored stained glass leaded panes for the front / northeast side of the two-story high ceiling Library, Lecture Hall and center Trophy Hall (which were unfortunately removed during the 1977–1979 renovation project), mahogany wood paneling, stone block front entry foyer, plaster corridor arches, elaborate lighting chandeliers, terra cotta tiles, and polished terrazzo floors with two inside courtyards.

Two years later the Maryland Scholastic Association integrated its sports competitions, opening to formerly segregated black City high schools: Frederick Douglass, Paul Lawrence Dunbar and Carver Vo-Tech in 1956.

[23] In 1978, using a half-million dollars originally earmarked for a swimming pool, a starter agreement was made with the City and state-wide school construction program to the main academic building.

The Castle's academic decline continued during the late 1970s, until under new hand-picked Principal Solomon Lausch celebrated the return of City College to its Castle in rededication ceremonies on the front upper campus highlighted by the appearance of a replica medieval-garbed "Black Knight" mascot (used since 1950) riding on a gray horse posing for photos in front of stone battlements once more occupied by "Collegians" after a two-year absence.

[27] The "Castle" features an iconic landmark 150-foot-tall Gothic style architecture central tower (designed originally to hold a set of clocks on its four facades plus a carillon bells system that were never installed after its 1928 opening due to "Great Depression" budget cutbacks after the famous October 1929 Stock Market Crash) that is visible from many locations throughout Baltimore.

[31] City College launched in 2015 the Torch Burning Bright campaign, a fundraising effort to modernize and rehab its library and student resource center.

[36] The creation of a male high school "in which the higher branches of English and classical literature should be taught exclusively" was authorized unanimously by the Baltimore City Council on March 7, 1839.

[38] An effort to expand that academic power and allow the then-named "Central High School of Baltimore" to confer Bachelor of Arts degrees began in 1865, and continued the following year with the renaming of the institution as "The Baltimore City College" the retitling of its chief academic officer from "principal" to "president", along with an increase in the number of years of its course of study and the expansion of its courses.

The performance improvement plan also served as a call to action for the school community, resulting in formal recommendations from the Alumni Association, a series of student-led demonstrations, newspaper articles and television news segments produced by alumni working as media professionals, letters-to-the-editors of local newspapers submitted by parents and teachers, and routine public comments in support of City College at School Board meetings.

[46] Over the next decade, the local school district failed to delivery on its pledge to adequately fund the revitalized Baltimore City College curriculum and enforce higher admissions standards.

[23] During this period of decline, the "A" Course was discontinued by newly appointed Principal Joseph Antenson, who contended that the program was racially discriminatory and opted for a standardized curriculum.

Antenson was dismissed in 1992 after two tumultuous years as head of school and for the first time ever a private contractor was hired to operate Baltimore City College.

Enrollment, student performance, and the quality of the colleges and universities to which graduates matriculated improved, which attracted critical acclaim from education professionals and international media attention.

The IB Middle Years Program is intended to teach freshman and sophomore students to understand how core subjects are interrelated, how to master critical thinking processes, and to increase intercultural awareness.

As juniors and seniors, students engage in the rigorous two-year IB Diploma curriculum that requires a comprehensive study of world topics, literature, languages, science, and math.

[63] Between 1894 and 1920, the City College "Collegians" regularly faced off also against their neighbors at Howard and Centre Streets of the Johns Hopkins University "Blue Jays" and the Navy Midshipmen in our state's team sport of lacrosse.

[85] In 2006, the wind ensemble received a grade of superior at the district adjudication festival and marched in the Baltimore Mayor's Christmas Day Parade.

[91] G. Warfield Hobbs Jr. (later became a well-known Episcopal priest and academic doctor), president of the 1896 senior class and first editor-in-chief of The Green Bag, gave the publication its longtime distinctive unique name in recognition of the role of City College graduates in political, and legal / judicial leadership.

Historically, the famous green "carpet bag" in the 19th century containing the lists of political appointees (also known as "patronage") of the sitting Governor of Maryland to be approved by the General Assembly of Maryland has long been known as the "green bag" lists (and is still referred to as such by modern-day local press journalists, reporters and editors including the newer media of television and radio, although the derivation of the term is unknown.

The Baltimore City Board of School Commissioners were not however greatly amused or tolerant feeling betrayed and insulted themselves by the young Collegians and attempted to censor the edition by requiring The Green Bag to be reviewed by then President / Principal Francis A. Soper.

[citation needed] The BCCAA publishes the class reunion guide, established and maintains a life membership endowment fund, presents Golden Apple Awards annually to faculty members, sponsors the Hall of Fame selection and induction, publishes a semi-annual newsletter, maintains an alumni database, and assists with projects designed to enrich student life and improve the school's facilities.

[100] Many City College alumni have become civil servants, including three of the 10 individuals currently representing the state of Maryland in the U.S. Congress, Congressman Dutch Ruppersberger and Senators Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen.