Algona College
Encyclopedia
Algona College an American institution of higher education operated in the city of Algona
, in Kossuth County
, Iowa
, between 1869 and 1875. The college was associated with the Methodist Episcopal Church. Iowa historian and author, Harvey Ingham, wrote a history of the college in 1925 and reported that the college closed due to financial difficulties resulting from a plague of locusts. Apparently families in the region could not continue to support the college when their crops were insufficient to support their own families. Ingham wrote that the Upper Des Moines newspaper reported on March 10, 1875 that Congress appropriated $150,000 for the purchase of seed grain for farmers in the devastated regions of Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, and Minnesota. Ingham wrote, “It is easy to see that soliciting for college endowments was not an encouraging prospect in the grasshopper years."
A contributing factor was community discord over the licensure of saloons in the previously "dry" county.
Ingham wrote that in December, 1872 the college newspaper, the "Algona Collegian" reported the following tuition:
Common English -- $6.00
Higher English, Latin and Greek -- $8.00
French or German -- (no price listed)
Incidental Fee -- $1.00
Instrumental Music -- $10.00
Use of Instrument for Practice -- $2.00
Board (lodging) was available with families in the community for $2.00 to $3.00 per week.
Algona, Iowa
Algona is a city in and the county seat of Kossuth County, Iowa, United States. The population was 5,741 at the 2000 census. Ambrose A. Call State Park is located two miles southwest of the city.-History:...
, in Kossuth County
Kossuth County, Iowa
-2010 census:The 2010 census recorded a population of 15,543 in the county, with a population density of . There were 7,486 housing units, of which 6,697 were occupied.-2000 census:...
, Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
, between 1869 and 1875. The college was associated with the Methodist Episcopal Church. Iowa historian and author, Harvey Ingham, wrote a history of the college in 1925 and reported that the college closed due to financial difficulties resulting from a plague of locusts. Apparently families in the region could not continue to support the college when their crops were insufficient to support their own families. Ingham wrote that the Upper Des Moines newspaper reported on March 10, 1875 that Congress appropriated $150,000 for the purchase of seed grain for farmers in the devastated regions of Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, and Minnesota. Ingham wrote, “It is easy to see that soliciting for college endowments was not an encouraging prospect in the grasshopper years."
A contributing factor was community discord over the licensure of saloons in the previously "dry" county.
Ingham wrote that in December, 1872 the college newspaper, the "Algona Collegian" reported the following tuition:
Common English -- $6.00
Higher English, Latin and Greek -- $8.00
French or German -- (no price listed)
Incidental Fee -- $1.00
Instrumental Music -- $10.00
Use of Instrument for Practice -- $2.00
Board (lodging) was available with families in the community for $2.00 to $3.00 per week.
See also
- List of colleges and universities in Iowa
- Defunct Iowa Colleges and Universities
- Higher Education Timeline