Rich soil, railway access, and the discovery of hot mineral springs drew travelers, merchants, and settlers to Hubbard, helping the town grow quickly. In 1911, the city council recognized the need for a public school system, and later that year voters chose to use taxes to create and maintain the schools. After a $20,000 bond was approved and executed, the architectural firm of Field and Clarkson was selected to design the high school. E. Stanley Field and Wiley G. Clarkson, who worked in Wichita Falls and Fort Worth respectively before and after their partnership, had designed many public buildings, including a three-story addition to the Fort Worth Stockyards Hotel and the Corsicana First National Bank Building. G. W. Brillhart of Abilene, who had been involved in construction of the Foard County Courthouse in the Classic Revival style, served as contractor. Construction began immediately, and the school opened in 1914 as an imposing two-story red brick and limestone building designed in the prairie style with Texas rural Georgian influences. Several notable people attended the school, including Samuel D. Johnson, who became a judge on the Texas Supreme Court and later a federal judge on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. It was Hubbard's only high school from 1914 to 1978, when a larger school was built. Afterward the building fell into disrepair, but in the 1980s a community group rescued it and established a community center, genealogy center, museums, a library, and the Tris Speaker Sports Museum.