Maryville College history

Her third Academy of the Sacred Heart, established at Broadway and Convent streets in the city of St Louis, opened in 1827 as La Maison de Ville, the City House.

She established a second in nearby Florissant, Missouri which was transferred to the Sisters of Loretto in 1846.

In 1864, 21 acres of property at the corner of Meramec and Nebraska Streets (Withnell’s Grove) were purchased for the Academy for $40,000.

During the following year, 1873, four young women received the first degrees conferred on the Maryville campus.

In 1875, Maryville College conferred the first college degree to a woman in the state of Tennessee.

Swift was founded by William Henderson Franklin, the first African American to graduate from Maryville College (1880). His institute educated black students during the era of imposed segregation.

1881 MC woods purchased by Thomas Jefferson Lamar ($21 per acre) and sold to MC for $1.

The first comprehensive evaluation of the woods occurred in 1912, thirty-one years after the woods were added to campus, by Davey Tree Company.

The “House in the Woods” was built in 1917 due to the benevolence of the college’s first pastor, Doctor William Patton Stevenson.

1918 A springhouse was built over a spring to provide water and refrigeration for the house in the woods.

These early years of the MC woods are characterized by active management, as illustrated by a recommendation from the Executive Committee and passed by the Board of Directors June 5, 1919:

A second major structure was built in 1932 as a home for the sister of Mrs.

Walker was devoted to beautification and utilization of the Maryville College woods, and in 1935 she planned and oversaw establishment of the amphitheater along the edge of Duncan Branch creek to serve as an outdoor gathering place for religious services and theatrical performances.

In 1941, one year after the beatification of Mother Philippine Duchesne was announced in Rome, Maryville College received independent accreditation from the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools.

Walker died in December of 1950, the Board of Directors assigned it as the President’s residence.

1956 70,000 board feet of large pine trees in the woods were cut and sold.

The College’s physical growth prompted a move to a new campus in West St Louis County, dedicated by Cardinal Joseph Ritter on April 23, 1961.

Additionally, in 1963, English Ivy that covered Anderson Hall was removed due to weakening effects to the mortar of the ancient bricks, and the removed ivy was loaded in the back of pickup trucks and taken down the dirt road in the college woods where it was dumped.

Walker supervised the building of trails through the college woods and helped establish the current picnic area across the log bridge.10 By 1969, the amphitheater area was considered “one of the most beautiful and spacious outdoor theaters to be found on any college campus.”

In August 1972, the city of Maryville informed the college that a sewer line needed to be installed through the MC woods in order to serve the Washington Street area around the expanding medical offices.

Bruce Guillaume (MC ‘ 76) established Mountain Challenge in 1987, taking clients on outdoor adventures that fostered team building; many such excursions utilized the Wesley Woods adventure facilities.

In a Tennessee Division of Forestry survey of the college woods in 1991, a Forest Stewardship Plan for the woods was created.

In addition to the land, this 50-year lease, which began October 1, 1997, also grants RT the use to all private roadways leading to the lodge.

The House in the Woods received a much-needed renovation in 2002 as a result of a Lily Grant funding exploration of vocation.

A January 2007 research project conducted by some of the FRS130: Perspectives on the Environment classes confirmed that there are three distinct epicenters of ivy in the college woods, and all of them are growing together.

https://mtnchallenge.com/foundations/founding-story/ Accessed November 26, 2012.

Publication of these entertaining stories and scout memories is planned for 2019 – in time for MC’s 200th anniversary and Tremont’s 50th.

Eleanor majored in History and graduated as the 2021 Outstanding Senior, recognized for her exemplary academic record and Senior Study, involvement on campus and potential to be an outstanding alumna.