Hereford Christian College
Hereford, Deaf Smith County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Hereford College opened 1902 as co-educational public school in newly-built three-story main building. By 1903, college was transferred to Christian Church for needed financial support. Renamed Add-Ran College. The next year, name changed to Panhandle Christian College. Relying on tuition alone for support, college was forced to close in 1912. Housed Hereford High School, 1915-26. This marker is mounted on Roswell, New Mexico, brownstone from the old main building. (1966)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Hereford College opened in 1902 as a coeducational public school in a new three-story main building, but within a year financial need pushed it into the hands of the Christian Church, and it was rechristened Add-Ran College. Renamed again the next year as Panhandle Christian College, it leaned entirely on tuition and, unable to make ends meet, closed its doors in 1912. The building later served as Hereford High School, and this marker is set in brownstone salvaged from the old main structure.
Why it matters
The college's brief, name-changing life reflects how fragile early higher education was on the frontier, where church support and tuition alone often could not keep a school's doors open.
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