'The Million Dollar School', established in 1910 on South McDonough Street, was named for a well known southern poet, Sidney Lanier, who resided in Montgomery from 1866 to 1867.
This late gothic revival building was constructed from 1928 to 1929. The new high school consolidated the original Lanier and Montgomery County High Schools. Lanier was in the building known as Baldwin Magnet School and Montgomery County was in what is now known as Cloverdale Junior High school.
The name of the new school was decided by the outcome of a football game between the two schools in the fall of 1928, which Lanier won. Fredrick Ausfeld was the architect, Algerian Blair the contractor and consultants from Columbia University were called in to insure that the building incorporated all the latest educational innovations and requirements. The building opened for class in Sept. of 1929 and was dubbed 'The Million Dollar School' due to its approximate cost. Lanier was recognized throughout Alabama and the southeast as a model for academic excellence and for its tradition of intellectual integrity and scholastic accomplishments.
|
