Built in 1853, it was designated a National Historic Landmark for its role in the 1854 founding of the Republican Party.

[3] Bovay used his position in founding the school to further involve himself in politics, becoming a founder of the Republican Party, which formed during a meeting at the schoolhouse.

The building is a single-story wood frame structure, with a gabled roof and clapboarded exterior.

It has modest Greek Revival styling, with a single entrance framed by pilasters and an entablature with cornice.

[4] In 1854, opposition grew to the proposed Kansas–Nebraska Bill which threatened to allow slavery to expand into territories north of the Missouri Compromise line.

The move caused the Little White Schoolhouse's status on the National Register of Historic Places to be endangered.