Montgomery Female College

Montgomery Female College was a school for girls in Virginia. Virginia Tech has a collection of papers related to the school.[1][2] It was founded as Montgomery Collegiate Institute by the Montgomery Presbytery and was as a companion to Montgomery Male Academy. It opened on November 1, 1852.[1]

Originally located in an old Presbyterian Church on Franklin Street, the school reopened in a new building in 1860. The school was used as a hospital during the American Civil War.[1]

The school became Montgomery Female Academy and was eventually purchased by Samuel K. Knox in 1870. It struggled and was sold at public auction to Oceana S. Pollock, a teacher at the school, in 1876. She became its principal.[1]

The school had a successful period and was deeded to Ebenezer T. Baird and his wife Anna Susan McDannold Baird in 1887. Pollock remained principal.[1]

The school closed for a year in 1890 and reopened under a series of principals including Pollock's niece, Virginia Wardlaw, in 1903. Wardlaw's sisters joined her and were known for strange behavior and wearing black veils.[3][1]

The school struggled financially and closed in 1908. The building became a boarding house and health resort and was then sold to the Montgomery County School Board.[1] It was demolished in 1935 for the construction of Christiansburg High School.[1] Virginia Tech has a collection of papers related to the school from 1875 until 1892.[3]