The museum served as a high school from 1904 to 1929. From 1930 until the late 1960's the building housed all the sixth grades in the city as a Departmental School. The administration offices were also located in the building. In the 1940s, kindergarten classes were started in the basement level and during the 1970s, the building housed "Continuing Education" and "Head Start" programs.

After the building was vacated by the school district in the 1970's, it was purchased by Junction City philanthropist, Fred Bramlage, and donated to the historical society in 1982 as a permanent home for the museum. Society volunteers labored over a year to get the main floor ready for use and in May 1983, the Geary County Historical Society opened its doors. In the years since, over a half million dollars have been raised from within the community and used to restore the entire building and develop the museum and its programs.