Hargrove College 1895-1914 - Ardmore, OK
N 34° 11.012 W 097° 07.857
14S E 672242 N 3784084
A bronze plaque mounted on a concrete block stands near the south end of Selvidge Park at 9th Ave NW and D St NW, Ardmore, OK, noting this as the location of Hargrove College, which burned in 1907.
Waymark Code: WM11MNG
Location: Oklahoma, United States
Date Posted: 11/14/2019
Views: 1
The marker reads:
Hargrove College 1895-1914
A Methodist college once stood here. Begun by the City of Ardmore it was given to the Indian Mission Conference of the Methodist Church. Named in honor of Bishop Robert K. Hargrove. In 1907 the school burned but was rebuilt north of the city. It exerted a vital religious and educational influence throughout the area.
Oklahoma Methodist Historical Society
1964
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The America's Lost Colleges site (see Web site, below) has some good reading about this "ideal school", as they wished to be known, including a photo of the main building and a contemporary ad. Contracted to educate the Choctaw and Chickasaw, the school structure consisted of a primary division, an intermediate division, and an academic or high school division, with a few students later doing college-level work. They had a fairly typical offering in terms of courses, with A.B. and M.E.L. -- assuming Master/Mistress of English Literature here -- as achievable degrees. They had an active campus, with a few hundred students at one time, and activities included theater, an orchestra, a debate team, literary societies, and even a football team.
The campus itself occupied a six-acre block. They started in a three-story brick building, and later added a four-story brick building which included a 400-seat auditorium. This building was destroyed by fire on October 2, 1907, and while the school rebuilt north of Ardmore and re-opened in 1909, by 1913, dwindling enrollment forced them to close. The campus was sold to the Bloomfield Academy, and the main building burned in 1957.
George Selvidge was mayor of Ardmore from 1931 to 1933, and the park bears his name, as he donated this land to the city.
County: Carter
Record Address::
Selvidge Park
9th Ave NW and D St NW
Ardmore, OK USA
73401
Web site if available: [Web Link]
Rate the Site: 
Date Erected: 1964
Sponsor (Who put it there): Oklahoma Methodist Historical Society
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