Named in honor of William Oscar Boston,[1] it opened in 1949 as a segregated school for Blacks.

[2][3] It was renamed from Second Ward Colored School, which had been in the community since the late 19th century.

[1]In sports, the W. O. Boston Panthers won three state titles in 1972 in boys basketball, girls track and field, and football.

Blacks opposed it, contending that it destroyed Calcasieu Parish's best example of racial balance.

Blacks also disagreed that Barbe High School, which was predominantly White, was largely unaffected by the board's desegregation plan.