The structure is noted as the home of one of the first free schools in the United States and the first brick schoolhouse in the city of Providence.

Construction for the County House finished in 1731 and served as one of the many meeting locations for the Colony government until it burned down in December 1758.

[5] During the American Revolutionary War, the Brick Schoolhouse was occupied by Patriots who used the building to manufacture cartridges and store munitions.

[6] In 1800, owing to the efforts of John Howland, the building was opened as one of the nation's first free public schools.

[6] From 1946 to 1957, the Meeting Street School, which educated children with cerebral palsy, met in the Brick Schoolhouse.