Westminster College

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Way back in 1887, a man named Reverend J.M. Harder looked out at Collin County and decided it needed something, a real institute of higher learning.

So he founded Seven Points College. Now, that name wouldn't stick forever, but the idea behind it would outlast more than a few storms. The school would eventually come to be called Westminster College, and the road it traveled to get there is something worth knowing.

Between 1892 and 1918, that college changed hands and changed names more times than a poker chip on a Saturday night. At different points it was owned by a man named I.P. Rosser, then by the Methodist Protestant Church, then by the Westminster Baptist Church.

Through all of it, the school kept its purpose, a preparatory school and college, offering degrees, and even a theological seminary for students looking to serve something larger than themselves. Now, by 1907, somebody decided the old wood-clad building had seen better days. So C.W.

Bulger and Sons of Dallas were brought in to put up something worthy, a three-story, concrete, forty-room building. Forty rooms. In 1907.

That was a statement. But here's where the story turns quiet. Financial problems, the kind that don't ask permission and don't negotiate, forced the school to close in 1918.

The building stood after that, stood for decades, holding whatever memories concrete can hold, until 1972, when it was demolished. Reverend Harder's institute of higher learning for Collin County: founded in hope, weathered through change, and gone now except for what the marker remembers.

What the marker says

In 1887, Rev. J.M. Harder founded Seven Points College, now called Westminster College, as an institute of higher learning for Collin County. Between 1892 and 1918, the college was known by various names and owned, at different times, by I.P. Rosser, the Methodist Protestant Church, and the Westminster Baptist Church. Primarily, it served as a preparatory school and college, offering degrees and a theological seminary for students. In 1907, C.W. Bulger and Sons of Dallas were hired to construct a 3-story, concrete, 40-room building to replace the previous wood-clad school building. Financial problems forced the school to close in 1918 and the building was demolished in 1972. (2012)