[3] Built in 1868 using private funds and made of "red cedar logs which were obtained in the canyons south of the river,"[4] it opened on November 30, 1868, with less than twelve students.

[4] By 1874 the student population numbered 270, and on August 27 of that year,[3] work was finished on a two-story brick school built between Third and Fourth streets on North Dewey.

[9][10][7] In response to further increasing population, voters approved a $480,000 bond issue on May 28, 1929 to build a new high school (and for other purposes)[7] on a 15-acre tract on west Second street[11] at what was then the western edge of North Platte.

[6] The new building cost around $364,000 (in 1929 dollars), contained reinforced concrete floors and 700 recessed lockers, and was faced in red brick with terra cotta trim.

[12] Part of the school modernization effort in the 1970s (discussed below) provided for the transformation of the auditorium into a fine arts theater.

[18] In 1975, the Citizens Advisory Committee distributed Look and See, a small brochure which highlighted safety and efficacy concerns at a number of school buildings and urged voters to support an upcoming bond issue to deal with them.

The task force identified a number of "immediate needs" concerning the building's site, security, educational space, mechanical systems, life safety, and accessibility.

The group's report noted that the total cost of ownership would be lower for new construction and that renovation did not resolve all the concerns it had found.

[21][22][23][24] Community members broke ground for the new building on April 7, 2001, and the project was completed in the fall of 2003 at an approximate cost of $29 million.

[25][26] The 270,000-square-foot building has a capacity of 1,600 students (expandable to 2,000 with additions) and features an energy-efficient ground source heat pump heating and cooling system, a large common area, larger gymnasiums, classrooms, and cafeteria, a 1,200-seat performing arts auditorium, a media center, and modern computer, camera, life safety, and security systems.