CNN's First Black Female Headline News Anchor Hopes To Save Beulah Grove Lodge

DOUGLASVILLE, GA — In an effort to preserve one of the oldest buildings in Douglas County — and one that was built by first-generation emancipated enslaved people — Gwen Sommers Redwine, CNN's first Black female Headline News anchor and Douglasville resident, is trying to keep the building alive.

Beulah Grove Lodge No. 372 was built in 1910 and was once the home of the Pleasant Grove Colored School, the Douglas County Sentinel reported.

It's become dilapidated in recent years and Redwine — who got the building on the National Register in 2010 — is hoping to get the county and others to help provide funding to restore the building, which she estimates could cost $500,000. Plans are to use it as a welcome center for the South Douglas County Scenic Byway, since it sits at the start of the route.

Read more from the Douglas County Sentinel.