The Quincy Academy was incorporated in 1832 and was probably established as early as 1830. Private educational institutions were common in newly settled frontier areas. Education was provided at reasonable rates by the “Male Academy” and the “Female Institute.” The original school building (located northeast of this site) burned in 1849, and in 1850, plans were made for the construction of a new academy. The Classic Revival building was soon completed and, with a brief interruption during the Civil War, continued to serve the educational needs of the Quincy community until 1912. During the next several decades, the old Quincy Academy building was utilized as a temporary courthouse, library, church meetinghouse, hospital during the Civil War, the first county vocational school, child-care center, and kindergarten. In 1931, the Quincy Woman’s Club Library began to serve the public from quarters in the Academy. During the 1950s, the building was restored and renovated. In 1974, this structure was placed on the National Register of Historic Places, a fitting tribute to its long service to cultural needs of the Quincy community. It is now owned by the First Presbyterian Church and serves as a community services building. Two sets of stairs leading to the two main rooms on the second floor kept the children separated. A wall divided the upstairs into two rooms; the teacher’s platform extended into both rooms at the west end.