Settlement in the Superior area began with travel along the Mullan Road and with prospectors drawn by the 1869 gold discovery on Cedar Creek. After placer gold declined and other mining camps became ghost towns, Superior continued to grow. The community organized a school district in 1891, with elementary classes first held in a small log cabin, and by 1892 ninety school-age children lived nearby. Several rural schools served local children into the 1900s, but none provided a high school curriculum, forcing older students to leave home for further education. After Mineral County was organized in 1914, voters approved bonds the next year for a high school, and secondary classes began that fall in the Methodist Church basement for students from across the county. The new high school, built by local builder Charles Augustine for $10,000, was dedicated on January 28, 1916. Additions in 1925 and 1947 relieved overcrowding, and the building remained in use until June 1995. Today it is one of Montana's few examples of Colonial Revival style school architecture, and with the Mineral County courthouse its three-stage bell tower, flanking dormers, and strict classical symmetry have long made it a prominent landmark at the center of town.