High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The history of Baltimore City College began in 1839, when the city council of Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. passed a resolution mandating the creation of a male high school with a focus on the study of English and classical literature. The Baltimore City College was opened in the same year with 46 pupils under the direction of Nathan C. Brooks, a local educator and poet. It is the third oldest high school in the nation. In 1850, the council granted the school the authority to present its graduates with certificates of completion. An effort to expand that power and allow City College to confer Bachelor of Arts degrees began in 1865, but ended unsuccessfully in 1869.