It was founded as St. Mary's Hall in May 1837 by Bishop George Washington Doane, the second Episcopal bishop of New Jersey. He established an all-girls, academic boarding school, which predated the founding of Mount Holyoke College by several months. Originally founded to educate women the same as men, it taught girls and women as undergraduates and postgraduates. In 1966 an all-boys school, Doane Academy, was founded in Burlington in association with St. Mary's Hall. In 1974, the two private schools were merged to form the co-educational St. Mary's Hall-Doane Academy. In April 2008 the name was shortened to Doane Academy, which serves as the current name.