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LaGrange College History
This etching shows the Stanley Building which was the original classroom building of LaGrange Female College. It was located on Broad Street, one ot the main streets in LaGrange and is no longer in existence. LaGrange Female Academy was incorporated by an act of the Georgia Legislature on December 26, 1831, though it had been in operation earlier. The school prospered with the support of prominent local trustees and under the leadership of Rev. Thomas Stanley and Major John Park. In 1846, brothers Joseph and Hugh Montgomery purchased the Academy, then located on Broad Street, and converted it to a degree-granting college named LaGrange Female Institute and later LaGrange Female College its current name. Joseph Montgomery built College Home for himself and to accommodate female boarders attending the school. In 1851 the Auditorium was built but was completely destroyed in 1860 and caused great damage to College Home. The Montgomery brothers sold the college to the Georgia Conference of the Methodist Church, South in 1857, for the sum of $40,000. Local people, mostly Methodists, contributed half the purchase money. The college operated throughout the War Between the States. During Reconstruction, it was kept open in conjunction with another local school, Southern Female College, whose campus later burned. In 1868-1869, four local women operated the college, proving its viability and convincing the Methodist Conference to keep the school open. |
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