Madelyn Edwards reports for the Weatherford (TX) Democrat in "Weatherford College remembers its history" that faculty, staff, students and alumni will start celebrating the 150th anniversary of the institution's founding in 1869.
The institution was founded by the Phoenix Lodge of the Masonic Order in Weatherford, TX and was chartered as the Masonic Institute. The name was changed to Cleveland College in 1884 to honor U.S. President Grover Cleveland. Then five years later the Central Texas Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, moved Granbury College, which had originally opened in 1873 and had been under the conference's authority since 1880, to Weatherford and combined the two institutions as Weatherford College.
David S. Switzer guided the institution through the 1890s with average yearly enrollment of approximately 300 students and the school offered classes from grade school through the senior year of college. Switzer left in 1902 to establish his own college and from 1903 to 1921 the school operated intermittently.
In 1921 the institution was reorganized as a junior college and was known as Weatherford Junior College. Southwestern University took over operation in 1944 as a branch institution. Five years later in 1949 Southwestern transferred the college to the county and the school officially became Weatherford College of the Parker County Junior College District.
You can visit the 150th Anniversary webpage for a timeline of Weatherford College history, events planned for 2019, and a centennial issue of The Hiltop, an alumni magazine with more information.
No comments:
Post a Comment