South Houston High School was the second high school to be built in the Pasadena Independent School District. It opened in the fall of 1958 with Carroll Teague as principal and Frank Fisher as assistant principal. The first year the student body consisted of only sophomores and juniors. During September 1958, the school was not yet completed, and for the first several weeks, around 500 South Houston High School students attended classes at Pasadena High School and Kruse Elementary. With about half of the building completed, on October 21, 1958, the first classes were held in the new building. Campus beautification was on the minds of those at the school and 100 trees were planted that first year.

Traditions were also established that first year. The school colors became scarlet and gray; the mascot, Hector the Trojan; and the yearbook, the Palladium. At the beginning of the next school year, the enrollment had jumped to 832, which included seniors, as well as, sophomores and juniors. The first issue of the school newspaper, the "Trojan Torch" was published, so named because "a torch leads the way, and so should South Houston." In May of 1959, the first graduation ceremony was held. This first graduating class gave the school the "Trojan Seal" which was embedded in the floor of the main entrance. By 1966, there were over 2,500 students enrolled. That same year, air-conditioning was installed. When Dobie High School opened in 1968, enrollment dropped slightly to 2,218 students. In 1970, the trimester system began and South Houston held its first mid-term graduation, with 18 seniors receiving diplomas. The Wood Shop’s paint room burned in March of 1974, causing $78,000 damage. In 1975, construction of a new library began, the cafeteria was remodeled and two additional parking lots were added. That same year, the enrollment had jumped to 2,700 students. In the fall of 1979, the trimester system concluded and schools reverted back to the semester calendar. In 1981, the Trojan band had the honor of performing at the halftime show of an Oilers game. Several years later in 1997, 

Elaine Reinartz, an assistant principal at South Houston, is killed in a traffic mishap on the Gulf Freeway. The conference center in the heart of the campus is named in her honor. 

In more recent years, beginning in the fall of 2005 large numbers of refugees from Hurricane Katrina arrived in the Pasadena and South Houston communities, causing enrollment at South Houston High School to fluctuate, posing problems for school administrators. A couple of years later in 2007, the school celebrated its 50th anniversary with an open house. The Class of 1965 donated a new Victory Bell to stand beside the old bell, which would no longer be used. In 2008, Hurricane Ike struck the Texas coast, forcing the cancellation of two weeks of school.

In 2011, South Houston High School unveiled its Wall of Honor to highlight the contributions of alumni. In 2013, the campus opened a similar Teacher Hall of Honor to pay tribute to outstanding teachers in the school’s history. Beginning in 2016, South Houston began offering the technology-based Connect learning program. That following year in 2017, the campus opened its Early College High School program. South Houston High School currently serves around 2,900 students in grades ninth through twelfth.

• Carroll Teague 1957-1962
• George Morton 1962-1963
• Elmer Bondy 1963-1968
• Walter Matthys 1968-1975
• Hugh McGaugh 1975-1981
• Jimmy Barber 1981-1991
• Doris Barnes 1991-2002
• Deborah Aubin 2002-2007
• Steve Fullen 2007-2016
• Andrea Wenke 2016-present