Hearn Academy was established by the Baptists as the Manual Labor School [a permanent school of high order] in 1838, to teach boys agricultural and other life skills. Tuition was paid by work on area farms. A generous endowment from the estate of Lott O. Hearn in 1846, realized from the posthumous sale of 12 slaves, gave the school the name Hearn Manual Labor School.

Reorganized as a more comprehensive institution in 1903, it was renamed Hearn Academy. After a fire, the original school building was replaced with the present structure in 1910. It closed in 1925, with the rise of public state-funded schools in the area.

It remains an anchor of historic Cave Spring and is used for a number of public and private events.

Rolater Park Historic District, National Register of Historic Places