Blackstone College
Three blocks south is the campus of the former Blackstone Female Institute, after 1915 Blackstone College for Girls, a teacher-training school that opened in 1894 with some 75 students including 29 boarders. James Cannon Jr., a controversial Methodist bishop and prohibitionist, twice served as chief administrator (1894-1911, 1914-1918). In 1906, U.S. Steel magnate Andrew Carnegie donated money to expand the main building. The Beaux-Arts president's home, called The Gables, was built in 1915. Enrollment neared 500 before fires in 1920 and 1922 destroyed the classroom and dormitory buildings. Rebuilt on a smaller scale, the college operated until 1950. It became the Virginia Methodist Assembly Center in 1955.
Marker is at the intersection of Church Street (Business U.S. 460) and College Avenue, on the right when traveling east on Church Street.
Courtesy hmdb.org
