Dunbar High School was named for the dialectical poet, Paul Laurence Dunbar. Dunbar was established as a high school in 1953 and the first graduating class was in 1957.  Dunbar has a rich history rooted in the Stop Six community of East Fort Worth. 

The current campus was completed in 1967 for $2.1 million. In 2017, a bond was passed for $31.3 million that allowed Dunbar to renovate the building by creating collaboration spaces for learning and student interaction, creating new science labs, updating new technology in all classrooms, renovating the main entrance, and updating the library.

Dunbar is known for its state championship high school basketball team led by Coach Robert Hughes, who retired in 2005. Coach Hughes is currently the winningest boys high school basketball coach in the United States with 1,333 wins. In 2017, Coach Hughes was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.