University of North Alabama

the college opened on January 11, 1830, to students of all denominations in two three-story brick buildings.
LaGrange graduate Richard H. Rivers, after becoming president of the college, led most of the students and all but one faculty member from the mountain in late 1854 to relocate to Florence and re-incorporate it as Florence Wesleyan University, with 160 students enrolled in its first year of operation. In 1858, the remnant of the original LaGrange College was re-established as LaGrange College and Military Academy, which continued to operate until 1863 when the buildings were destroyed by Union soldiers of the 10th Missouri Cavalry. However, Florence Wesleyan was saved from destruction during the Civil War.
When the Methodist Church deeded Florence Wesleyan to the State of Alabama in 1872, the institution became the State Normal School at Florence, the first state-supported teachers college south of the Ohio River. Shortly thereafter, it became one of the first co-educational institutions in the nation; …