01/29/2026
McGee College at the little village of College Mound, Missouri in Macon County was founded in 1852 by the McGee Cumberland Presbyterian Church which existed in the same town, but incorporated by the State of Missouri on February 23rd, 1853. The college operated strictly on donations provided by the Cumberland Presbyterian church, and had no official endowment fund. This proved challenging in 1859, when the original building and library burned. The school had to take on a debt of $43,000 to construct a new building to house the college, which was completed in 1861. However, the new structure was barely in use before the beginning of the Civil War, during which the campus was closed. Unfortunately, the $43,000 continued to accumulate interest throughout the years of closure during the war, resulting in even more debt for the rural college. In 1866, following the conclusion of the war, the school was finally reopened and peaked in attendance of nearly 300 students, which was more than were attending at the University of Missouri in Columbia at that time. The new structure housing the college was a large 3 story brick building with two imposing towers on the northeast and southeast corners of the building. As the student body grew, so did the campus. Several additional buildings were constructed across the acreage in the 1870s, including two dormitory halls. The construction of railroads across the state of Missouri left the village of College Mound nearly 12 miles from the nearest rail line, and enrollment began dwindling. The Panic of 1873 caused the bank to call in the debt of the school, and with the lack of enrollment, the decision was made to close the campus in 1874, just 20 years after the school was founded. Dr. Mitchell, the director at the time, worked with other small struggling colleges and Cumberland Presbyterian churches across Missouri to found a new, larger college near a rail line, which we know today as Missouri Valley College in Marshall, Missouri.
The massive brick building in the village of College Mound stood empty for nearly a decade until its sale in 1883 to the Southwestern Holiness Association, and a new educational institution was opened on the campus called the Pauline Holiness College. This was a strict Christian school, but never performed well in enrollment due to its remote location. The new institution was sold in 1888, and the name was reverted to McGee College and put back into operation, though with a much smaller student body and staff than the original McGee College operated with. Again, this operation proved unsuccessful, and the campus was sold again, this time to the Church of God Holiness, who began using it for various educational operations and church gatherings. In 1913, the Church of God Holiness set off to improve the campus, with the construction of a large dormitory building, which is the only remaining campus building in 2026. Also in 1913, the decision was made to tear the third story off of the main college building due to deterioration, as well as the tops of both towers. At the same time, the brick structure was slathered in stucco, which was painted white.
The Church of God Holiness operation on the campus was never a huge success, but they forged on for several decades. In 1942, a horrible storm ripped the roof from the college building, and the interior was severely damaged. The church made the decision to demolish the old building that was built in 1861 the year following the storm, in 1943. A meeting hall was built on the foundation of the old building, which still remains in College Mound today. This building became home to the operations of the Church of God Holiness’s annual camp, and the old dormitory housed visitors attending the camp for many years. Today, the dormitory is a private home, and the camp hall is very sparsely used.
