Construction of the original Spotsylvania Vocational Center began in 1979, and the facility opened in August 1980. Original programs included Air Conditioning/Refrigeration, Auto Collision Repair, Auto Servicing, Agriculture, Data Processing, Business Education, Printing, Marketing, Metal Trades, Alternative Education, Electricity, Carpentry, Masonry, and Culinary Arts. The Fredericksburg Area School of Practical Nursing moved from Mary Washington Hospital to the center that same year. First-year enrollment was approximately 385 students.

Programs that were added later included Drafting/Design, Technology Education, the Career and Technical Education Assessment Center, and the Career Guidance Center. Evening adult programs included the Regional Adult Education Office, Women in Technology Studies (WITS), Regional Apprenticeship Related Instruction Program, and various adult career and technical courses. The center has facilitated many training and continuing education programs for business and industry and hosted various community, school, and government meetings.

Planning began in 1987 for an addition that would serve the career and technical education needs of Spotsylvania County into the 21st century. Approximately 58,000 square feet were included in the plans for the addition, and construction began in August 1992. The addition of the Spotsylvania Vocational Center was completed in August 1993. Two former Spotsylvania County Public Schools administrators had the vision and perseverance responsible for this addition's planning and construction. In December 2001, the Spotsylvania School Board named this addition "The John D. Galyean Addition," the addition’s multipurpose room was named "The Bernice F. Covert, III Multipurpose Room." Mr. Galyean was the Director of Vocational and Adult Education during this project's planning and implementation phase. Mr. Covert was Principal at SCTC from 1980 until June 30, 2000.

New programs that began in 1993 included Dental Careers, Radio/Television Broadcasting, and Electronics. The LPN and Drafting programs moved into the new addition and Cosmetology, previously located at Spotsylvania High School.  A Training and Development Center, including a 200-seat multipurpose room, was included in this addition to serve training and continuing education needs for the school division, business and industry, and the community.

The Spotsylvania Site of the Commonwealth Governor's School (CGS) opened at SCTC and began serving students in 1998. CGS was the first Governor’s School program in Virginia to have distance learning as an integral part of instruction.  CGS moved to Riverbend High School in 2004.

In September 2001, Spotsylvania County Schools and Capital One created the Customer Relations Training Program to give talented, motivated students from the career and technical classes in the county a chance to explore a new career and to equip students with the tools to achieve their current career goals.   After Capital One moved out of the area in 2003, the funding for this program ended, and customer relations activities have since been incorporated into all Career & Technical program competencies.

In November 2001, the Spotsylvania County School Board voted to change the school's official name to the "Spotsylvania Career and Technical Center."

In 2002, a new Technology Foundations lab opened. This lab upgraded the current Technology Education program with the latest equipment.  New SCTC programs that opened in 2002 included a second Auto Servicing program, a Computer Networking program, and an EMT/Firefighter program.

An Early Childhood Education program was added in 2004.   This program is designed to train students for careers in private, public, or commercial daycare and preschool centers and schools.

In 2006, the County adopted a block schedule with alternating days, referred to as A/B days. This allowed us to expand our offerings, and 8 new classes were added as “Pathways” classes, which allowed 10th graders to explore new areas in Construction and mechanical Trades, Information Technologies, and Mass Media Communications. The hope was that this would allow those students to have exposure to areas of study that they might consider taking as juniors and in making career plans.

2006 also saw the addition of an Army JROTC Program that serves Riverbend, Courtland, and Chancellor High School students.  

In 2018, the Center closed its graphics program and added a Veterinary Science program that opened in the Fall of 2019.