Established in 1913, Lincoln High is one of the oldest high schools in the district. Following the 1933 Long Beach earthquake, the school was reconstructed in 1937 by A.C. Martin in the PWA Moderne style. Among Lincoln High’s notable faculty and students are: Dr. Ethel Percy Andrus, the first female principal of a high school in California; teacher Sal Castro, instrumental leader of the Chicano Student Walkouts of 1968; and alumnus Kenny Washington, pioneer in professional football as the first African-American to sign a contract in the modern-day N.F.L. with the Los Angeles Rams.

LAUSD has conducted a historic resources assessment of Lincoln High School that has identified three historic periods of significance with corresponding districts. The three periods are: (1) the early period, which includes earliest school buildings and other elements like the stairs on the hill portion of the campus. This period also includes structures associated with Principal Percy Andrus; (2) 1968 Chicano Student Walkouts; (3) PWA architecture/A.C. Martin. Seismic retrofit and modernization of three historically significant school buildings are proposed, including the Administration Building, Home Economics Building, and Auditorium. The historic gymnasium building will receive seismic retrofit and upgrades to finishes, systems, and programmatic access.

At a public meeting on April 10, 2019, LAUSD acknowledged that more improvements were needed to bring the athletic facilities up to par with other campuses. In the future as funding resources become available, LAUSD proposed to demolish the historic gym to allow room to expand the track/football field and to add a new restroom and concession building, and new home/guest bleachers. They intend to leave room on the main campus for future development of a new gymnasium.