This stone Richardsonian Romanesque school is based on H. H. Richardson's Allegheny County Courthouse (1883–1888) in Pittsburgh and resembles the Old Duluth Central High School in Duluth, Minnesota, by Palmer and Hall, also built in 1891–1892. From the center front of the school, a square tower soars to extreme heights over Hackley Park and the city. The building combines in a bulky asymmetrical mass every other Richardsonian ingredient—gables, towers, turrets, round arches, and rock-faced masonry. After the Muskegon High School, which preceded this building, burned in 1891, the school board was unable to secure the funds needed for its reconstruction. Many of the lumber mills had closed or were closing, and the citizenry was unable to pay the increased tax. Following several futile months of trying to raise the funds needed, Charles H. Hackley offered the city financial assistance to rebuild the school. Allen of Illinois, architect for many schools in that state, designed the school. The school currently serves as the administration building for the Muskegon Public Schools.