A disastrous fire caused by a faulty furnace completely destroyed the 7th Street school building and most of the contents on January 28,1907. Classes were held temporarily in the Courthouse basement, the Public Library and four commercial buildings until a new school was built. The school board hired architect H.L. Rowe of Lexington to construct a new school with hardwood floors, electric lights and steam heat at a cost of $43,000. It had four columns and a prominent dome. Upon its completion in 1908, it accommodated 750 white students in all the grades from elementary to high school.
In 1923, the white junior high school was organized and housed on the second floor of the existing school building. In 1927, an addition to the school building became the home of the high school where it has remained since that time. A gymnasium was added in 1928 and later converted to the library after the current gymnasium was built in 1992.