S. M. Varnedoe was administrator of the ten-grade private Valdosta Institute from 1865 to 1870. Among its students was J. H. “Doc” Holiday. The Masons and several churches also used the institute as a meeting place. After purchase of the property from the Wells estate in 1885, a new brick building was constructed. In 1895 the Valdosta Institute became a public school, and the brick building continued to house sections of the public school until it was razed in 1958.