Palmetto High School, completed in 1953, was built as a school for African American students, replacing an earlier Palmetto High School, a Rosenwald School completed in 1924. It was one of the equalization schools built in the early 1950s in an effort to equalize African American educational facilities, and it opened in the spring of 1954 with James T. McCain as principal. When completed, the new high school was described as modern in every detail and constructed entirely of concrete, masonry, and steel. The class of 1970 was the last to graduate from Palmetto High School, and after court rulings finally implemented public school integration in 1970-71, the white and black high schools were combined and the building became Palmetto Middle School.