[9] This "Pride of the Gem City" served students as Quincy's population continued to grow and secondary school enrollment increased dramatically.

Superintendent Charles M. Gill first proposed building a new state of the art high school in the Quincy Daily Whig on New Years Eve, 1916, announcing: "It is time to plan for it a new home that will foster a love for the school... for a better preparation to be better neighbors, better citizens, more successful and happier workers, better leaders, and better followers."

For the first time since the 1950s, grades 9-12 were housed in a single building, reflecting the traditional American secondary school model.

[15][16][17][18] In 2021, due in part to the COVID-19 pandemic and remote learning, the QHS graduation rate dipped to 77%, 9 points lower than the state average of 86 percent.

History Quincy, in a 2010 statistical report, was the fourth-winningest high school basketball program in the country, with 1,873 wins since its first game on December 23, 1907.

The Blue Devils were led by future Iowa standout Michael Payne and Illinois legend Bruce Douglas.

The Devils compiled an astounding 33–0 record, winning their final four state tournament games by a staggering average of 28.25 points.

The Blue Devils were also named the National Champions of high school basketball by USA Today that year.

The Blue Devils didn't lose again until the state semifinal game in 1982, compiling a 64-game winning streak, which was a record at the time.

Tradition[23] On Friday and Saturday nights during basketball season, thousands of Gem City citizens flock to Blue Devil Gymnasium in Baldwin School to watch the games.

After the fifth starter is announced, that light is extinguished, and the pep band begins to play an ominous medley of the theme from The Phantom of the Opera and Maynard Ferguson's "Conquistador."

The devil stands at mid-court while the starting lineup is announced as the instrumental "Sirius" by The Alan Parsons Project plays.

Quincy Herald-Whig sportswriter Matt Schuckman authored a book entitled Stand Up and Cheer: A Century of Blue Devil Basketball, chronicling the history of the program.

Season 4, Episode 1 of Queer Eye, which aired July 19, 2019, was filmed primarily at Quincy Senior High School.

The episode features long-time QHS music director Kathi Dooley receiving a makeover from her former student, Jonathan Van Ness.