After the Palm Beach Farms Company donated land to the Palm Beach County Board of Public Instruction, a small, wood-frame schoolhouse was built in 1912, with Lucerne Avenue located to the north, Lake Avenue to the south, and Federal Highway to the east.

The expanding population soon necessitated the need for a larger schoolhouse, with the school board commissioning design plans and construction in 1914, to be funded by an approved $25,000 bond.

[2] The building was renovated after being sold to the city government, with classrooms being converted into offices and a telephone being installed.

[2] City hall operations were temporarily moved to the Lauriston Building, then located at the corner of Lake Avenue and Dixie Highway.

Upon completion of restoration in 1929, the building featured a Mission–Spanish Revival design, a radical change from the previous architectural style.