McMurry College

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm passing it right along to you. Now, between 1840 and 1920, the Methodist church founded nearly eighty colleges in Texas. Eighty.

That is not a small number of schools, and Texas is not a small state, so maybe it shouldn't surprise you. But by 1920, four colleges in the Northwest Texas Conference had already closed for various reasons, and the conference had itself a problem. What do you do when you believe in education so fiercely you've built nearly eighty schools, and they keep closing on you?

Well, if you're the Northwest Texas Conference in 1920, you appoint a commissioner and you try again. The man they appointed was the Reverend James Winford Hunt. And James Winford Hunt was not the kind of man who did things halfway.

Born in 1875, he had published newspapers in Lubbock and Plainview before he became a Methodist circuit rider minister in 1903. By 1914 he was called to St. Paul's Church in Abilene, where he served two years before becoming president of Stamford College.

When Stamford closed in 1918, he returned to St. Paul's. Then in 1920, he resigned to promote the establishment of a new college.

Now that is a man who sees a door close and decides to build a whole new building. Hunt went out into the community, and what he found was overwhelming support. A fund drive was launched in March of 1921, timed to coincide with a visit from the conference presiding Bishop, a man named William Fletcher McMurry.

And things moved fast after that. In April, the church Board of Education elected trustees, appointed Hunt president, and named the college, McMurry College, in honor of the bishop. A charter was filed with the state on November 26, 1921.

Construction began in 1922. The faculty was chosen the following spring. And on September 19, 1923, the school officially opened its doors.

Four colleges had closed. One new one opened. James Winford Hunt, who died in 1934, never did seem to run out of things worth building.

What the marker says

Between the years 1840 and 1920, the Methodist church founded nearly eighty colleges in Texas. Four colleges in the Northwest Texas Conference had closed for various reasons by 1920, when the Reverend James Winford Hunt was appointed commissioner of a new college to be built in Abilene. James Winford Hunt (1875-1934) published newspapers in Lubbock and Plainview before becoming a Methodist circuit rider minister in 1903. He was called to St. Paul's Church in Abilene in 1914, where he served for two years before becoming president of Stamford College. Returning to St. Paul's when Stamford closed in 1918, he resigned in 1920 to promote the establishment of a new college. Garnering overwhelming community support, a fund drive was launched in March 1921, to coincide with a visit from the conference presiding Bishop, William Fletcher McMurry. In April the church Board of Education elected trustees, appointed Hunt president, and named McMurry College in honor of the bishop. A charter was filed with the state on November 26, 1921, and construction began in 1922. The faculty was chosen the following spring, and the school officially opened on September 19, 1923. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836-1986