The cornerstone from the historic Turner College will be opened 1 p.m. Feb. 24 at the Woodfork Chapel AME Church. The event, being held in honor of Black History Month, is open to the public.

"We have no idea what's inside," said Lynn Hulan of Musgrave Pencil Company, which owns the site.

The east wall of the 93-year-old building collapsed last July, and it had to be torn down as a result. It was owned by Musgrave Pencil Co. and had been used for storage for many years.

Turner College was founded in 1887 as a private African-American high school and closed in 1935, according to the book, "Black Church Beginnings: The Long-Hidden Realities of the First Years" by Henry H. Mitchell.

Originally known as Turner Normal and Industrial Institute, the school was operated by the Tennessee Association of African Methodist Episcopal Churches. Pastors of Shelbyville's Woodfork Chapel AME Church were heavily involved in its operation, documents show.

The school was renamed Turner Normal College in 1908, Marilyn Massengale of Shelbyville said. Approximately 170 students were enrolled during 1908-09, according to Mitchell's book.

The collapsed building was built in 1914 as a girls dormitory, its cornerstone reads.

Boys were eventually housed as well, Massengale said. The school accepted both boarding and day students and featured a cafeteria in the basement, classrooms on the first floor, girls' dormitory rooms on the second floor and boys' rooms in the third floor.

The building was designed by pioneer African-American architect Moses McKissack III of Nashville, according to its cornerstone. His descendants continue to operate a highly-regarded Nashville architectural firm.