Midland Christian College
Midland, Midland County, Texas
Marker Inscription
2 blocks west to site of Midland Christian College A 2-year, coeducational college that functioned 1910-1921. H. R. Garrett was first president. Students rode horse-drawn bus to campus; edited yearbook, "The Sandstorm." Some 250 attended in 1917. Financial stress forced closure. The 3-story gray brick building was later razed. (1970)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
For a brief decade beginning in 1910, the raw new railroad town of Midland supported its own two-year coeducational college, headed by first president H. R. Garrett. Students rode a horse-drawn bus to the three-story gray brick building, edited a yearbook wryly named 'The Sandstorm,' and numbered some 250 by 1917. Financial strain forced the doors shut in 1921, and the building was eventually torn down.
Why it matters
Midland Christian College captures the ambitious, often fragile push to plant higher education on the West Texas plains in the early twentieth century.
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Related people
- Β· H. R. Garrett
Themes & tags
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