Wagener in Aiken County, South Carolina — The American South (South Atlantic)
A.L. Corbett School
A.L. Corbett School for grades 1-12 opened at this site in 1954. The $600,000-facility was funded by the state equalization program, an effort to preserve segregation by improving African American schools. It enrolled 785 students in its first year and was named for longtime Wagener mayor and school board member Adien Lecroy Corbett. The school's first principal was Woodrow Z. Wilson.
In 1958 James O. Brown became principal of the school's elementary grades. Planned by Prominent Columbia architects Lyles, Bissett, Carlisle & Wolff, Corbett School had thirty-six classrooms and was co-winner of a national competition for modern school design. In 1970 it became a middle school as part of integration. The 1954 campus was razed in 2002. Only the gym and auditorium remain.
Erected 2023 by South Carolina State Historic Preservation Office, sponsored by Aiken County Historical Society and A.L. Corbett Alumni. (Marker Number 2-73.)
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans • Architecture • Education. In addition, it is included in the South Carolina Historical Markers
this page online
Location. 33° 39.639′ N, 81° 21.741′ W. Marker is in Wagener, South Carolina, in Aiken County. It is at the intersection of Sand Dam Road (South Carolina Route 113) and A.L. Corbett Circle, on the right when traveling south on Sand Dam Road. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 286 Sand Dam Rd, Wagener SC 29164, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in Greater Augusta and in the Midlands. It is also in the American South and specifically in the Deep South. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture, one of the original Thirteen Colonies, one of the Confederate States of America, and the Antebellum South.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 8 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Wagener Museum (approx. 0.6 miles away); Wagener Memorial Monument (approx. 0.7 miles away); Wagener (approx. 0.9 miles away); The Crawfords Memorial (approx.
Credits. This page was last revised on January 23, 2026. It was originally submitted on January 23, 2026, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia. This page has been viewed 81 times since then. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on January 23, 2026, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia.
