Education in Upson County grew from small private schools in 1824 to a public school chartered as R. E. Lee Institute in 1882. Its graduates became doctors, lawyers, Senators, State Representatives, athletes, soldiers, and an Assistant Attorney General of the United States. Others gained national notice as literary figures, were presented at the White House, appeared on national news, worked in the motion picture business, and authored several books. Football became the leading sport, winning one state championship, two state runners-up titles, and 12 regional championships. Baseball produced two national league players, basketball won the Jaycee Invitational and one state championship, and Lee's ROTC Rifle Team won eighteen state and eleven national championships. After integration in 1970 and consolidation in 1973, Lee closed in 1992. Three of its nine buildings became the Thomaston-Upson Government Complex in 1998, and the remaining buildings serve community functions.