St. Charles College
St. Charles, Missouri
1835-1915
E-Travel
The 1907 Skirmisher from St. Charles Military College is available from Internet Archive. Historic St. Charles, Missouri has information on the buildings. The local St. Charles Weekly Cosmos-Monitor covered some school events. Since one in five residents of St. Charles County was a German immigrant, Der St. Charles Demokrat carried ads for the college, like the 1886 ad right.
History
St. Charles College was sponsored by the Missouri Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Classes began in 1835 in rooms provided by Catherine Collier, with John H. Fielding as president. By 1841 the school had 80 students taught by five professors. A boys’ school, it offered both collegiate and preparatory departments.
Over the next 65 years St. Charles College experienced only limited success in finding a niche. In reporting on the school, newspapers alternated between “in a flourishing condition,” and “has not been in operation for some time.” In addition to a Civil War closure, there were reported short closures in the 1840’s,1850’s, late 1860’s and 1870’s. There was even a brief closure in 1905 caused by a dispute over dancing and card playing.
It was a boys’ school 1835-1870, 1884-1891, and 1897-1915. It became coeducational in 1870 and again in 1891. Chartered to award four-year degrees, it added a primary department in 1860. By 1884 the focus had shifted to business, and by 1891 it awarded a Master of Accounts degree. In 1886 a Military Department was established, and by 1901 St. Charles had become a military college.
Through the years St. Charles College maintained a community presence with its literary and music programs. As early as 1840 local literary societies provided regular programs in declamation and oratory, accompanied by musical programs from individual and small vocal and instrumental groups.
A low enrollment and indebtedness led the trustees to close the school in 1915.
Bricks and Mortar
Classes opened in a church building provided by Mrs. Collier. She and her son then contributed $10,000 and land for the new building, ready in 1936. Located on the west side of Third Street, between Washington and Jefferson, it was a two-story brick structure over a stone basement. It was topped by a distinctive cupola. George Collier built “College Lodge,” a block to the east. This served as a dormitory and mess hall for the college. In 1847 President Fielding's widow opened a girls’ school in the building
During the Civil War St. Charles College was taken by Union militia commander Arnold Krekel for use as a hospital. It also housed some civilian prisoners of war in the basement. For the next half century, the school negotiated with the federal government for payment for damages done to the building.
In 1891 the college moved to the Parks Homestead at the western city limit. The old building housed overflow classes from the public school. Later used as a storehouse for a shoe company, it burned in 1922.
A postcard image of the college
Sports
School colors and team name: Lemon and Blue
The first mention of sports in newspaper coverage came in 1886 when the school held its first ever Field Day. Students participated in more than 20 events—including wrestling and tug of war. After the move to the new campus, a lawn tennis club was formed in 1895. In 1897 the school bought a football. In 1898 a school baseball team lost 21-4 to a “picked nine” from the town. In 1899 a football team had been formed, with some games played against local independent and high school teams.
After St, Charles became a full-fledged military college, the baseball and football programs played a much larger part in school life. The Cadets continued to play some high school and independent sides but also added a number of St. Louis area colleges—St. Louis U, Christian Brothers, Shurtleff, Washington U, Barnes Medical, Columbia Normal, McKendree, Moothart Business, and Marion-Sims Medical. Even with an enrollment that seldom reached 100 students, the Cadets enjoyed enough success that scheduled games were often cancelled by their opponent.
The 1907 St. Charles Military College baseball team. Image from the Skirmisher.
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