2013 Endangered Properties List
Owner: Haines Alumni Association
Occupant: Richmond County Board of Education
History and Significance:
The Cauley-Wheeler Building, completed in 1924, is located in the center of the campus of Lucy C. Laney Comprehensive
High School. This historic building housed the primary school of Haines Normal and Industrial Institute, and was named
for philanthropist Alice Wheeler of New York and her nurse Mary Cauley, a Lamar School of Nursing graduate. It is the
last remaining building from the original Haines campus. The Haines Normal and Industrial Institute was developed
by prominent African-American educator Lucy Craft Laney. The school offered a comprehensive education of “the heart,the hand and the head,” and Haines graduated respected leaders, doctors, lawyers, teachers and nurses who would playan important role in African-American local, state, and national history. The Haines Normal and Industrial Institute was individually listed to the National Register of Historic Places in 2008 and also recognized with a historic marker by the Georgia Historical Society in August of 2009. Due to the building’s isolated location and development pressures on the campus, the building is in danger of being demolished so a more modern facility can be built on the current location.
Threat: Demolition for modern facility to meet the needs of Laney High School
Potential Uses: Continued current use as educational facility or as a multi-purpose building for school activities.
Preservation Tools: (1) Individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places makes the building eligible for all
programs of the National Register including available grant funds and the tax incentives for certified rehabilitations.