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Bellefonte's founders recognized the importance of quality public education and transferred the ownership of land reserved for an academy to a board of trustees created when the Bellefonte Academy was incorporated in 1805. The next year the Legislature provided $2000 to erect a suitable building, providing that six poor children received free education for terms not to exceed two years. The original two-story stone structure was built on a hill west of town overlooking the Big Spring.
The school's first principal was Rev. Henry Wilson, a Presbyterian minister. The academy had no religious affiliation, but students were required to read one Bible passage a day. The 12 students of the first term found a classroom furnished with pine benches and oak tables and a stove in the middle of the room provided heat.
Classical courses were offered and quarterly tuition was based on the courses taken. Greek and Latin cost $5, mathematics $4 and English $3. Geography and all the sciences were also offered. There was an extra charge for fuel in the winter. To save fuel the fires were allowed to go out at night.
The north and south wings were added in the 1840's and a brick addition was added in 1873. During the War of 1812 and the Civil War qualified teachers couldn't be found and the Academy had to temporarily close. By the mid-1850's the Academy was competing with the free public school system. During the 1860's extra rooms were leased to the Bellefonte School District and to private instructor to keep the institution solvent.
In 1868 the trustees hired Rev. James Potter Hughes and took back control of the Academy's facilities. Under his supervision the Academy began to regain it's footing. Rev. Hughes' children attended the Academy. In 1885 his son James Robert Hughes, graduated from Princeton and returned to Bellefonte to teach Latin Greek and French. After a short period James Robert Hughes was made assistant principal. He was ambitious, recruiting more boarding students and seeking to build the athletic teams. As money came in, he convinced the Trustees to enlarge and renovate the buildings. When his father retired in 1900, Mr. Jimmy became headmaster.
Fire destroyed the upper floor of the main building in July 1904. Restoration was completed in time for the Fall term. (see the picture at the top of the page) In 1912 further expansion provided more bedrooms, a new dining room and kitchen, more classrooms, laboratories and a new gym. The Academy became a social center for Bellefonte's young people. There was and athletic complex on East Bishop Street consisting of baseball fields and tennis courts, a skating rink and swimming pool. Dances were held in the gym and there was an annual minstrel shows at the Garman Opera House. The revenues generated from these events and by championship baseball, basketball and football teams helped raise money for the school.
Despite its small size, the Academy educated more political, industrial and social leaders than any other of its day. But its success was short-lived. Fire destroyed the south wing of the school in 1921 which was quickly rebuilt. Hardships of the Great Depression made tuition unaffordable, and a Academy would never recover from the dwindling enrollment. In 1934 the nearly-bankrupt school was sold to a private corporation, then closed by the sheriff. The buildings stood empty until 1939 when a fire destroyed the Bellefonte High School and classes moved into the Academy buildings temporarily. After World War II the buildings were converted into apartments.
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