The building that stands here once served as the Chesterfield Academy. The first Chesterfield Academy building was located nearer to downtown. Local tradition holds that the Union 20th Corps burned the school along with other buildings in Chesterfield in March 1865. A new building was not erected until 1869, possibly from materials salvaged from the old St. Paul Methodist, later Chesterfield Baptist, Church. Chesterfield Academy operated as a private school serving students from both Chesterfield and elsewhere. The school offered a two-year preparatory course of study with instruction in Latin, mathematics, ancient and modern history, and physical science. Instruction was also offered at the primary and intermediate levels. In 1909 S.M. Jackson purchased the building and converted it to a residence.