Last updated: April 18, 2026
- Founded: By the 1880s [specific 1887 date needs verification]
- Location: Jasper, on what is still called College Street
- Type: Co-educational private institute
- Founders: Jackson Pryor, Washington Pryor, and Col. A. L. Spears
- Ended: Building sold 1910 to become Marion County High School
Pryor Institute was a co-educational private school operated in Jasper through the late 19th and early 20th centuries. For decades it was the largest school in the Sequatchie Valley, drawing students from across Tennessee and neighboring states.
Founding
The institute was founded by Jackson Pryor (1816–1900), his brother Washington Pryor, and Col. A. L. Spears. Jackson Pryor was born in Marion County on January 15, 1816 and died in Jasper on November 16, 1900.
College Street
The Jasper street the institute stood on is still called College Street today, a name that persists because of the school's prominence in the community. The Jasper History Museum holds Pryor Institute and Marion County High School annuals dating from 1897, documenting the institute's student body and faculty in its final decades.
Transition to Marion County High School
In 1910 the Pryor Institute building was sold to the county and became the first home of Marion County High School. That transition marked the moment when public secondary education in Jasper formally replaced the private-academy model that had served the valley since the 19th century.
Related
About Marion County High School →
About Sam Houston Academy (1857) →