Texas Wesleyan University

Texas Wesleyan University is a private, coeducational, liberal arts university founded by the United Methodist Church in 1890. The main campus is located in the Polytechnic Heights Neighborhood of Fort Worth, Texas, with branch campuses in Burleson and downtown Fort Worth.

History

Texas Wesleyan University was originally founded as Polytechnic College by the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, in 1890. A committee under the direction of Bishop Joseph S. Key explored locations for a campus and settled on a site east of Fort Worth donated by area pioneers A. S. Hall, W. D. Hall, and George Tandy. The school held its first classes in September 1891 with a handful of faculty members and 111 students. In 1902, H. A. Boaz assumed the presidency and managed a period of moderate growth. He hoped to develop Polytechnic College into a new university for Southern Methodism.

When Dallas was selected by Methodist Church leaders as the site for Southern Methodist University, the Polytechnic campus was designated the "woman’s college for Southern Methodism," eventually becoming Texas Woman’s College in 1914, attracting young women from around Texas and the Southwest. However, when faced with dwindling resources during the Great Depression, the college's trustees voted to close the school in 1931. A merger with the financially secure Texas Wesleyan Academy in Austin saved the college from failure and resulted in the formation of Texas Wesleyan College in 1934. Men were...
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