CALHOUN COLLEGE. Calhoun College, in Kingston, was established and chartered in 1887 as a private, nondenominational, coeducational college. The institution offered instruction until sometime around the turn of the century, likely 1900. Operations began in what had been Kingston High School, a two-story wooden building owned and operated by J. L. Clemmons and J. C. Todd. In 1885 the institution, which enrolled students primarily from Kingston, apparently began offering college-level instruction in addition to primary and secondary courses. Two years later the school was renamed and chartered as Calhoun College. The college's first president, professor T. S. Sligh, was succeeded in 1889 by T. S. Wallis, a member of the original faculty. Wallis remained until the school closed. The college, which had no entrance requirements, offered work leading to the bachelor of arts degree. Courses were offered in six departments: primary, preparatory, teachers', music, elocution, and scientific. Classes in such subjects as mathematics, oratory, ancient and modern languages, grammar, rhetoric, and moral philosophy were offered. Though the building could accommodate up to 400 students, the school's enrollment never seems to have reached that level. Tuition ranged from one dollar to four dollars a month, depending on the level of instruction desired. The institution changed ownership a number of times during its existence. At one time a Professor Booth, who "loved whiskey and drugs," operated Calhoun College and severely lowered its reputation. The school discontinued college-level instruction after 1893. It continued as a private primary and secondary school until sometime around 1900.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Ethel Cassles, A History of Hunt County (M.A. thesis, University of Texas, 1935). W. Walworth Harrison, History of Greenville and Hunt County, Texas (Waco: Texian, 1976). Jackson Massey, A History of College Education in Hunt County, Texas (M.A. thesis, University of Texas, 1928). Donald W. Whisenhunt, The Encyclopedia of Texas Colleges and Universities (Austin: Eakin, 1986).

Brian Hart