Founded in 1889 by Jasper Davis, the Mississippi Normal Institute opened on September 1, 1890, east of this site, with an initial enrollment of 75 students that gradually increased throughout the 1890s. At its height, the school boasted an enrollment of 300, attracting students from the local area as well as Texas, Oklahoma, and Alabama. Consolidated with the local public school system in 1907, the school became known as Sherman School and served grades one through twelve until it closed in May 1964.