Allegheny College
Meadville, Crawford County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
Oldest college in continuous existence under the same name west of the Allegheny Mountains. Founded 1815. Chartered 1817. The college's first president, Timothy Alden, was architect of Bentley Hall, which became the center of administration.
The Story
In 1815, when the country west of the Allegheny Mountains was still raw frontier, a Massachusetts-born minister named Timothy Alden set out to plant a college in the young town of Meadville, Pennsylvania. Chartered two years later, Allegheny College endured where many early frontier schools failed, and it holds the distinction of being the oldest college still operating under its original name west of those mountains. Alden, the school's first president, also designed Bentley Hall, the graceful early building that became the heart of campus administration.
Why it matters
Allegheny College embodies the early American conviction that education should follow settlement into the frontier, carrying learning westward as the young republic expanded beyond its coastal beginnings.
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Related people
- · Timothy Alden
Themes & tags
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