founded in 1846 when a group of Congregationalists from New England established Iowa College. It has an open curriculum, which means students need not follow a prescribed list of classes. The college's 120-acre campus includes several listings on the National Register of Historic Places.
== History ==
In 1843, eleven Congregational ministers, all of whom trained at Andover Theological Seminary in Massachusetts, set out to preach on the frontier. The group also sought to establish a college, which followed in 1846, when they collectively established Iowa College in Davenport.
The first 25 years of Grinnell's history saw a change in name and location. In Davenport, the college had advocated against slavery and saloons, leading to conflict with the Davenport city council, which retaliated by constructing roads that transected the campus. Iowa College moved farther west from Davenport to the town of Grinnell and unofficially adopted the name of its new home, which itself had been named for the abolitionist minister …
