Did you know that Lawrenceburg once had its own military academy, and that the school’s baseball team was coached by a former outfielder for the New York Yankees?

The Lawrenceburg Military Academy enjoyed a very brief existence on a sprawling campus on East Gaines Street, just across the highway from the modern location of the Lawrence County Public Library. The campus was part of the spacious old Sowell property.

The school held its open house on November 3, 1920. Subsequent newspaper articles indicate that the school had an early enrollment of at least 40 boys and young men, and their sports teams were very active in local secondary school athletics.

Students at LMA took regular secondary school courses, with an added emphasis on military drill and outdoor survival skills.

LMA’s baseball coach was Luther “Doc” Cook, who played 288 games as an outfielder for the New York Yankees between 1913 and 1916. The Military Academy squared off against local schools in athletics, including LCHS.

The school closed rather abruptly. On January 1, 1923, the academy reopened in Florence, Alabama as the Florence Military Academy, taking twenty students with it as boarders. The campus of the Lawrenceburg Military Academy was gradually developed into the modern Admiral Circle neighborhood.