Florida Historical Markers Programs - Marker Detail

Description: The Town of Baker, a stop on the Florida, Alabama and Gulf Railroad, was platted in 1910 and grew up around the timber and turpentine industries. The site of the original Baker High School was owned by J.W. and Mollie McCart who sold the property to the Santa Rosa County Board of Public Instruction in 1914. Construction of the school, a two-story brick building with a basement, began in 1915, and opened for classes in January 1916. The school was heated by a wood stove, and students drank from an outdoor, hand-pumped well. The school was known as the Baker School, and operated as an elementary and junior high school until 1923, when a growing population required that it admit high school students. It was re-named the Baker High School that year and became the first accredited high school in Okaloosa County. In 1924, Baker High School graduated its first class with three students. In 1927, a new high school was completed across Jefferson Street in front of the old Baker High School. That building burned in 1953 and was rebuilt in 1955. The school’s gymnasium was built in 1958. New classrooms and a football stadium were added in 1970. The original Baker High School was renovated in 1957 and demolished in 1973.