History

Fredericksburg College was an outgrowth of the Female Orphan Asylum, an institution for the care of orphans of ministers and missionaries.  Fulfilling the dreams of Reverend A. P. Saunders, the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church approved the creation of the Assembly Home and School, which opened in Fredericksburg in September of 1893.  The mission of the institution quickly broadened, as it became a “high grade” co-educational school for the Fredericksburg area. 

 

It contained a primary division, a one-year preparatory division, and a three-year collegiate division, focusing on liberal arts.  Advertisements in 1899 showed that it also had programs in music, art, elocution, physical culture and business.

By 1894 the school was chartered as Fredericksburg College; a year later the collegiate program was increased to four years, and enrollment had reached 195 students.  Two years later, however, the school was experiencing financial problems.  But because many local people saw its value to the community, the city of Fredericksburg issued $10,000 in bonds to fund ten scholarships for local students. 

 

In 1897 the Presbyterian General Assembly separated the Home from the College and ordered that the college and its property be sold off.  In 1898 the school was sold to a private operation, and it continued through various owners until 1914.   Finally in 1914 it was closed for good.  One of the reasons for the closure was competition from the state-sponsored normal school (now University of Mary Washington), which had opened in Fredericksburg in 1908.

 

Fredericksburg College was very strong in music with an orchestra and a chorus; students regularly offered recitals.