Education students first met in Austin Hall. Sam Houston Normal Institute opened a grade school in 1912 to help train student teachers, which came to be located in Austin Hall by 1914. A lack of space led to construction of the Education building, completed in 1919.

The Education Building was the seventh permanent building on campus and sat between the Science Building (now the Bobby K. Marks Administration Building) and the Farrington Science Building (built in 1959). The building cost $80,000 and consisted of a gymnasium, shops for manual arts, domestic science laboratories, and traditional classrooms.

They additionally contained larger classrooms which were modelled after schoolchildren’s classrooms and allowed student teachers to teach and observe local schoolchildren. This took place from 1912-1937 and was limited to students in their final year of studies. Class of 1919 was the first class to receive a Bachelor of Arts in Science and Art, and starting in 1920, education students became student teachers instructing grades from kindergarten to eleventh grade.

In 1937, the Teaching/Demonstration School and the city school of Huntsville merged into Huntsville's Jr. High. This allowed student teachers to be engrossed in a real teaching experience. The building later went back to being used solely by SHNI after new public schools were built in town.

In 1976, the Eleanor and Charles Garrett Teacher Education Center (commonly referred to as the Teacher Education Center) opened and education classes shifted there. The center houses teaching and education classrooms, offices, and labs.

In 1982, the former Education Building was renamed the Baldwin Building in honor of Joseph Baldwin, SHNI’s third President (1881-1891).

In 1983, as part of the Master Campus Plan, the Education Building was demolished due to concerns about its foundation and age. The university planned to replace it with a new multipurpose building, but instead constructed the Farrington Pit. The outdoor area is a spot for student socializing and studying, and is also used for presentations and performances.

The cornerstone of the Education Building, along with the cornerstone of the Women's Gymnasium, is on display in downtown Huntsville as part of the Sculptor Wall outdoor project by Richard Haas.