It was founded by Charles H. Veeder using a grant of $1,500 from the Louisiana Legislature.
It was one of the few private schools in the state that was partly public-funded.
The second principal of the school was Henry M. Spofford who went on to become a judge in the Louisiana Supreme Court.
A new campus was constructed for the male school, funded by W. Abner Drake, Drury Murrell, and J. and T.
[4] The male academy lasted into the late 1890s, when the Louisiana Constitution of 1898 required that a public school system be created.