It was completed in 1932, and replaced the original Annapolis Colored High School.

[4] The original portion of the building is a flat-roofed, two-story building of brick and masonry bearing walls and wood frame floor and roof structure in Colonial Revival style.

Additional teaching facilities were added in 1950,[2] in a simplified International or Modern style.

[5] Wiley H. Bates High School was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994.

[1] Prior to desegregation, Bates was the only public school in the county that African-American students could attend for a secondary level education.