It was established in 1878 by the town after receiving a gift from philanthropist and native son Peter Bent Brigham, and served as a major regional secondary school until 1966.

Its original building, a fine work of Second Empire architecture, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995.

It is a two-story brick building, thirteen bays wide and four deep, covered by a hip roof.

Windows are set in rectangular openings with granite sills and lintels, and the entrances are located in the three projecting portions.

[2] Peter Bent Brigham was a Bakersfield native who made a fortune in the Boston area in real estate and restaurants, bequested his home town with $30,000 for educational purposes upon his death in 1877.