It was founded in 1964 by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Peoria in what was then the northern part of the city.

[1] The school was named after Archbishop of Omaha Gerald Thomas Bergan, a Peoria native.

Peoria already had Catholic high schools at the time in Spalding Institute and the Academy of Our Lady High School, located near downtown Peoria.

Monsignor Steven Rohlfs, later rector of Mount St. Mary's Seminary, served as chaplain of the high school after their departure.

[2] In 1988, Bergan merged in Academy of Our Lady/Spalding Institute and became Peoria Notre Dame High School.