Central Methodist College Campus Historic District

About this property

Central Methodist University (formerly known as Central Methodist College and Central College, as well as by its abbreviation CMU) is a private university in Fayette, Missouri. CMU is accredited to offer master's, bachelors, and associate degrees. While affiliated with the United Methodist Church, the university does not impose any religious requirements on its students. On April 13–14, 1853, Central Methodist University was founded by Nathan Scarritt and David Rice McAnally. The Methodist Episcopal Church, South received the campus of the defunct Howard College in 1847. Initially founded as Howard High School, the Howard Female College and Central College were subsequently formed. The college was chartered by the Missouri General Assembly on March 15, 1855. It came about due largely to the diligent work of Nathan Scarritt and David Rice McAnally. Classes began on September 18, 1857, on a 1-acre (0.405 ha) campus with an enrollment of 114 students and a faculty of three. Samuel C. Major was the first graduate, in 1858. In about 100 years the school grew to a campus of 55 acres (22.3 ha), enrollment of over 1,000 students and a faculty of 65. In 2004, it was granted university status and changed its name accordingly. The battle occurred on September 24, 1864, when two bands of Southern sympathizers attacked the Union troops stationed in Fayette; it ranged across the town to end on what is now the college's campus. The guerrillas were led by William "Bloody Bill" Anderson and George Todd, and included among their number were Frank and Jesse James, of outlaw fame. Somewhere between 30 and 50 Union soldiers faced off against the 250 guerrillas, who had disguised themselves with uniforms taken from dead Union soldiers. Only 75 members of the large guerrilla party charged the barricaded troops. Though Anderson and Todd lived on to terrorize Union troops across the state before their deaths, the ill-conceived attack had deadly consequences: after three charges, thirteen of Anderson's men were dead and another 30 were wounded. Only 1 (some accounts say 3) of the Union soldiers were killed, and another five wounded. In later years, Frank James said that the Fayette fight made him "the worst scared I ever was during the war." In his brief description of the fight, he said, "We charged up to a blockhouse made of railroad ties filled with portholes and then charged back again. The blockhouse was filled with Federal troops and it was like charging a stone wall, only this stone wall belched forth lead." On October 14, 2007, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources commemorated the battle by placing a marker on the Central Methodist University campus.

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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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