Lanier High School

Lanier High School began in the Blue Hall Building adjacent to Goodsell Methodist Church and occupied three different sites on Cherry Drive, later moving to the Dallas/Jackson Home as the Jackson Hill School. In 1921, George H. Lanier provided funds to annex high school space, after which it became part of Lanett City Schools and was renamed Lanier High. The school was accredited in 1935, and six students made up its first graduating class. After the Darden family donated land, a new school for grades 3-12 was built on the present site in 1937, and the Home Economics Building and Shop were added later. Until 1959, Lanier High was the only school in the Greater Valley area that conferred high school diplomas on Black students. Reuben Dallas, S.Q. Bryant, and L.B. Sykes served as principals from the early 1920s to 1969. After system-wide restructuring, the school lost grades 7-12, and in 1970 it became L.B. Sykes Lanett Jr. High with grades 6, 7, and 8. L.B. Sykes was accredited in 1974-75, and the Lanier High building was demolished during the summer of 1991, leaving the Home Economics Building as the only remnant of the school.

Lanett, Alabama · United States