Designed by the Roanoke architectural firm of Smithey and Boynton and constructed in 1939-40 with federal Public Works Administration funds, Covington High School operated from the close of the Great Depression through World War II, and into the Cold War era. Architecturally, the school combines an unusual blend of styles, borrowing elements from Classical, Renaissance, Collegiate Gothic, and Art Deco, which distinguishes it from other more stylistically conservative school buildings of the period in western Virginia. The Covington High School’s founding principal brought strict discipline to the student body, while the school offered a modern educational curriculum for academic scholarship, vocational training, athletics, and community service. The high school also served as a city of Covington community center for concerts, public health vaccinations, military recruitment, and Westvaco union meetings.