Randolph
Macon College
Boydton, Virginia
One of the saddest things in Mecklenburg County is the desintegration of the old Randolph Macon College. Years worth of attempts to retain and restore the property have failed (even though many of the faculty buildings are now private residences.) The main building of the campus has been described as "of the purest type of architecture of that period," and it is the original building of the oldest incorporated Methodist college in the United States.
Competition for places to build a school of higher learning began as early as 1825. Mecklenburg County offered $10,000 and land near Boydton at a very good price and the site was selected.
This marker stands on the southside of Highway 58 outside Boydton. If you pull onto the paved shoulder there, you can see the remnants of the university from the highway (below). The better view is from another street, however.
View from Highway 58 in summer (left). The 4 Boydton markers on Hwy. 58 (right.)
This campus drawing was taken from a diploma awarded in 1860. Western Building is to the left, Centre Building is to the right. In the foreground in front of the fence is part of the Boydton-Petersburg Plank Road. Western Building was torn down in 1875.
Centre Building in 1938.
Campus ruins currently as seen from Jefferson Street (Centre Building.)
The President's house is still standing just west of campus along the northside of Hwy. 58. It is now a private residence.
Steward's Hall was the dining hall and center for social affairs (left). Dancing was not permitted. On the right is the house today. It stands on the northside of Hwy. 58 across the highway from where the main campus used to be.
Randolph Macon College relocated to Ashland, Virginia in 1868.
In 1879, Dr. Charles Cullis of Boston bought 90 acres of the old campus and started an institute for area blacks. Steward's Hall became Teacher's Hall and the school existed for 30 years. The school was called Boydton Academic and Bible Institute.
To the south of Teacher's hall is what was called Helensha Cottage, a frame residence that was built and named for Mrs. Helen Bradford Sharpe, the head of the Boydton Institute.