Way Back Wednesday in Calhoun County---July 18-24

Jacksonville State University is celebrating the 135th anniversary of the college this year. JSU started out as a Normal School but there was another school in Jacksonville that was the forerunner of the college. In 1869, the citizens of Jacksonville began raising funds to open a college. By 1871, the town had raised the money and Calhoun College opened for the first session in 1871. The original building that housed the school was a wooden two room structure. Eventually, this structure was replaced by a two-story brick building.

The Board of Trustees for the all-boys school included some of the notable members of the Jacksonville community. The head of the Trustees was General William H. Forney, who was also President of the faculty. The other trustees were W. M. Hames, Peyton Rowan, E. D. Woodard, T. A. Walker, J. M. Caldwell, G. B. Douthit, S. W. Crook, and Simpson Fouche. All were local residents of Jacksonville except Fouche, a Georgia native.

Forney had recruited teachers from around the southeast to join the faculty of the new college. Col. Simpson Fouche was a University of Virginia graduate. Fouche was a long-time Georgia educator who had established Carterville’s (GA) Oakland Institute (1840) and Floyd County’s (GA) Cherokee Female Institute (c. 1853). Forney had made Fouche the chair of the Ancient and Modern Languages department. Col Fouche continued to reside in Rome, GA but taught at the school until 1883. He passed away two years later.

In addition to Fouche, Forney hired Prof. A. W. Richardson to be head of the mathematics department. Richardson was a graduate of the University of Alabama (Class of 1843). Teachers for the natural sciences and the principal of the Preparatory Department had yet to be named at the start of the first term in 1871.

The college was separated into three distinct departments: Primary, Intermediate, and Collegiate. The primary department curriculum including drawing, reading, writing, and basic math and geography for a cost of $3.00 per month. The intermediate curriculum consisted of “written arithmetic”, English grammar, and advanced geography for $4.50 a month. Finally, the collegiate department curriculum taught the young men ancient and modern languages, mathematics, natural sciences, and higher-level English for $5.50 a month. The college did not offer dormitories, but for ten to fifteen dollars a month boarding could be found with local families.

With the curriculum set, the college chose to divide the collegiate year into two terms. One term would last for four months (August to December) and the other would last six months (January to June). Exams would be given at the end of the second term in June.

Admission criteria for the college required potential students to pay a month in advance or make satisfactory arrangements with the Treasurer of the Board for payment before the end of the term. If the student paid the entire amount for the term, they would receive a 50 cent per month discount. Students were required to enroll for at least one session. The school policy did not allow for refunds in the case of absence except in the cause of a protracted illness.

Calhoun College was built near the train depot and operated as a male college then a co-educational Grange School until the Normal School was established in 1883. When the Alabama State Legislature chartered the Normal School at Jacksonville, Calhoun College closed. The college transferred all its books and equipment as well as twelve acres of land and a two-story building, later called Hames Hall. Even though, Calhoun College only operated for twelve years, had it not existed Jacksonville State University might not have existed.

To learn more about the history of Calhoun County pick up a copy of Images of America: Calhoun County (ISBN 978-0738589985), Anniston (ISBN 978-0738506012), or Anniston Revisited (ISBN 978-1467114752) by Kimberly O’Dell.