Webb City Business College History

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=200 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" background="007c8863.jpg"> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" BGCOLOR="#999966" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <FONT SIZE="6" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >Webb City Business College History<B>   </B></FONT><A HREF="http://www.jaspercountyschools.org" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.jaspercountyschools.org"><U><B>home</B></U></A><B>   </B><A HREF="id15.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Webb City"><U><B>Webb City School</B></U></A><B>   </B><A HREF="id20.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Webb City Business College"><U><B>WC Business College</B></U></A></div> <div> In December 1892, Mr. J. J. Nelson conceived the idea of giving to Webb City a college.  Mr. Nelson platted an addition to the city allowing for a college site and made a proposition to the citizens of Webb City to sell the lots of the Nelson Addition with one-half of said purchase money to be applied to the construction of a college.  The citizens responded by purchasing the lots and by March 1893, a $10,000 college fund was secured.  In May 1893, an electric railway connection with neighboring towns was assured and Mr. Nelson was approached by representatives of the Baptist College at Pierce City, stating that they were interested in moving to a city that would be in the center of the electric railway system.  Mr. Nelson presented the citizens of Webb City with the possibility of obtaining a $40,000 college instead of a $10,000 college.  The friends of the movement gained sufficient encouragement from the citizens to guarantee the Baptist people that their proposition would be accepted.  On May 22, the Baptist voted in favor for the school’s removal to Webb City.  </div> <bR> <div> The Webb City Baptist College was built by popular subscription aided by the citizens of Webb City, especially by Mrs. Elizabeth Chinn, Mrs. D. J. Stewart and Mr. E. T. Webb.  The total cost was over $40,000. The cornerstone was laid on August 10, 1893.  A copper box containing newspapers, coins and other mementos was placed in a hole in the masonry and covered up with the huge limestone cornerstone.  The Webb City Masonic Lodge was assisted in the ceremony by all the Masonic societies in the county.  City officials from Joplin, Carthage, Carterville, Oronogo and Webb City were invited to view the ceremony and attend a parade which stretched almost one mile from downtown to the building site. </div> <bR> <div> The college was constructed by A. R. Nesbitt on a beautiful site of about six acres in the western part of the city.  The seventh annual catalogue of the Webb City College stated, “From the observatory of the college building, the entire cities of Webb City, Joplin, Carterville and Prosperity can be seen.”  The four-story school building contained nearly 100 rooms.  It was heated by steam and lighted by electricity.  There was hot and cold water on every floor.  The college foundation was constructed of steel gray granite limestone.  It was two feet thick and almost twelve feet high, forming a ten foot basement story.  A large auditorium was located on the west side of the college.</div> <bR> <div> The school opened on September 15, 1896 with the enrollment exceeding 100 students.    Dr. J. L. Cook was the first president of the college.  He had been the president of La Grande Baptist College in La Grande, Missouri for twenty-seven years.  His personality greatly added to the popularity of the college.  Dr. Cook served as president until 1899, when Milford Riggs was elected.  </div> <bR> <div> The college offered full academic and preparatory courses with programs for both male and female students.  There were departments for music, art and oratory skills.  Strict rules and regulations were followed for boarding students.  No young lady was allowed to leave the college grounds without permission.  Visiting, shopping, and walking were done under the direction of some responsible person connected with the college.  Students could not receive visitors during school or study hours.  Visits of young gentlemen were strictly forbidden, except by permission of the parents.  Guests could only be received in the College parlors, and under no circumstances in their room.  </div> <bR> <div> By the third year, total enrollment was 150 with an enrollment of 200 expected the following year.  V. E. Harlow was elected president in 1900 and served one year.  John W. Keltner was elected president in 1901.  He had a faculty of 12 teachers and 160 pupils under his care.  </div> <bR> <div> In 1902 the trustees of the Spring River Baptist Association changed the school to a young ladies college.  70 young ladies were enrolled.  The name of the school was changed to the Webb City College for Young Ladies.  It was opened as a young ladies seminary, however small boys were admitted locally in the primary department.  President Keltner stated that it was the only college for young ladies in the Southwest.  </div> <bR> <div> The college continued as a Baptist school until 1903 when the school proved to be a financial failure.   On May 9, 1903, Professor W. T. Larimore secured possession of the building.  He named the school The Great Western Normal and Business College.  The school offered the following courses: High Grade Normal for the training of teachers; Practical Business College for young men and women; a Musical Conservatory. Also offered was a union of fifteen colleges under one management: Departments for Review; Preparatory; Normal; Commercial; Special Penmanship and Mechanical Drawing; Shorthand and Typewriting; Telegraphy; Elocution and Oratory, Fine Art; Physical Culture and Gymnasium; Music including Piano, Voice, String Instruments; College Band and Orchestra; Electrical Engineering and Manual Training; Advertisement Writing and Illustrating; Military Tactics and Drill.</div> <bR> <div> Summer school was opened on June 15, 1903, with classes running through September. Summer tuition was 15.00, reduced from 35.00, for a course of 10 weeks. In 1905, any of the listed courses including complete boarding expenses for two months was offered for $32.00 cash in advance. A small glove factory was opened in the basement to give students of limited means an opportunity to work their way through college.  In June 1906, Professor Larimore opened the school for a session with an approved summer school for teachers.  This was the last school session held at the college.  </div> <bR> <div> In 1906, the college building was considered as a site for the Missouri State Normal School, but the city of Springfield was chosen as the site for this institution instead of Webb City.  In 1907, the Webb City Commercial Club wanted to purchase the college building for use as a high school or a new hospital, but they never went forward with their plans.  In 1908, the school board also considered remodeling the college building for use as the city’s new high school.  An architect was sent to examine the building and he found it in an excellent state of repair.  The location was considered but a different site was eventually chosen for the high school.  </div> <bR> <div> The college was converted to an apartment building in 1909 and by 1910 there were four families living there.  In 1911, local evangelist W. M. Allison and his wife Berta ran a small orphanage from the building.   Another occupant was Henry G. Currey, a local optician had his office in the building in 1915. The last family to live in the building was the John Gregory family.</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="1cdbc040.jpg" border=0 width="700" height="516" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> In 1922 the old college building and the Newland Hotel was considered as a site for a new church college, but neither was chosen and in February 1928, the building was procured by Mike Evans, a Picher mining man.  He demolished the old structure and salvaged the bricks for other projects.  Upon removal of the cornerstone, the copper box containing the mementos placed there at the dedication of the college in 1893 was discovered to be missing.  The only treasure to be found was two copies of the old <I>Webb City Register.  </I></div> <bR> <div> After the removal of the building the ground was acquired by Mr. A. D. Hatton, who in 1933 presented it to the city for park purposes.  During the WPA days a swimming pool was built in the basement of the old college.  The pool served the residents of Webb City until 1966. </div> <bR> <div> In 1978 the original cornerstone was found and placed at the entrance of Hatton Park under the direction of the Webb City Historical Society.  </div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>