Geneva College

Geneva College was located at Northwood from 1848 to 1879

Rev. John Black Johnston, D.D. was the first president of Geneva College, 1848-1850

Map of Northwood from the Geneva College Book published in 1908

Drawing of the original Geneva College building

The Geneva Female Seminary was built in 1851

The second Geneva College building at Northwood

Geneva College historical marker dedication ceremony in 1948

Geneva College items at the dedication ceremony in 1948

Unveiling the Geneva College historical marker in 1948

Elroy Knotts looking at the Geneva College historical marker

Geneva College was located in Northwood near Belle Center from 1848 to 1879.

In 1836, James Stewart Johnston, a shopkeeper in Northwood, initiated the idea to create a Christian liberal arts college in the community. The following year, Mr. Johnston’s brother, the Rev. John Black Johnston, pastor of the Miami Reformed Presbyterian Church, held a Latin class in his study for seven students. Over the next ten years, this class grew and moved to several larger buildings. Then in 1847, the Lakes Presbytery of the Covenanter Church authorized Rev. Johnston to build a college.

Geneva Hall, named after Geneva, Switzerland, the early center of the Reformed Presbyterianmovement, opened on April 20, 1848. The official circular declared “Geneva Hall, this Christian College was founded by the Reformed Presbytery of the Lakes. The site is elevated, commanding an extensive view of the valley of the Miami, and of the surrounding beautiful and undulating country. The location is healthy, within 30 minutes’ walk of the Mad River & Lake Erie Railroad.”

Tuition was eight dollars per semester, and board was one dollar per week. Forty-two students enrolled the first year with a number coming from New York, Vermont and Pennsylvania. The curriculum outlined in that first year offered courses in Algebra, Geometry, Hebrew, Greek and Latin, as well as religion and moral philosophy, and a new course titled Chemistry.

In the spring of 1850, the first legal charter was secured, and one year later the first official catalogue was issued.  That same year, the Geneva Female Seminary building was opened. Misses Isabella and Elizabeth Schultz, of Edinburgh, Scotland, accomplished teachers of French, German, art and music became instructors in 1854.

By 1857, there were fifty-eight young ladies enrolled. Terms were: “Boarding, per session of 22 weeks, $33.00, washing, $3.00, tuition in lower branches, $6.00, higher branches, $8.00, ancient and modern languages, $10.00, vocal and music, including the use of the piano, $15.00.” At that time, male students stayed in boarding rooms in town.

The original college building was enlarged by the addition of a third story and a large chapel in front.

In the early 1860s the college suffered through severe financial difficulties. At the outbreak of the Civil War, some male students enlisted in the Union Army, and the college was temporarily closed. However, several members of the Reformed Presbyterian Church pooled their money together and purchased the college for $1,500.

Many students at Geneva Hall took active roles in the Underground Railroad in Logan County, especially in the Northwood, Belle Center, and New Richland areas. Some of these students aided the escaped slaves to a cave on Isaac Patterson’s property in Northwood.  One of the ladders the slaves used to get in and out of the cave is on exhibit in the Logan County Museum.

After the Civil War, the college enjoyed an enrollment of over one hundred twenty students including several freed slaves from the South who attended the school through scholarships.

When Rev. H.H. George, D.D. was elected president in 1872, the charter was revised, and the name changed from Geneva Hall to Geneva College. Dr. George was able to raise a large permanent endowment, and the college made rapid progress.

In 1872, the college offered a variety of courses for students to study including Greek, Moral Science, Latin, Mental Science, Mathematics, Natural Philosophy, Astronomy, Natural Science, Language, English and the Normal Department (teaching instruction). The tuition was $10.00 per term for the Classical Department or $8.00 a term for the Scientific and Normal Departments.

The growing success of the college attracted a group from Bellefontaine to inquire about the possibility of relocating the school to the city. In 1873, Bellefontaine offered the college four acres of land and $20,000 for a new building, but the school officials declined.

In 1879, a group of church members from Pennsylvania approached the college about moving the school to Beaver Falls. They offered the school ten acres of land and $20,000 for a new building. This time the college accepted the offer to relocate. They understood their present location did not provide the sufficient space needed for their growing school. Geneva College is still located at Beaver Falls where it continues to educate a student body of about 1,500 traditional undergraduates in over 30 majors, as well as graduate students in a handful of master's programs. 

In 1948, the Logan County Historical Society placed a historical marker along State Route 638 at the edge of Northwood in remembrance of Geneva College. The marker is a boulder with a bronze plate that reads: Geneva College established here in 1848 by Dr. J.B. Johnston. Moved to Beaver Falls, PA in 1879