In 1912, the New Albany School Board established the Union County Training School at this site. After the original building burned, a new school was constructed in 1948. Designed by architect Robert McKnight, this Streamline Art Moderne-style building was the main high school for African Americans in New Albany until the end of segregation in the late 1960s. The school was named for Benjamin F. Ford, who was principal from 1921 until his death in 1950 and oversaw construction of the new school.