Wessington Springs College was an institution of higher learning located in

Wessington Springs Wessington Springs is a city in central Jerauld County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 956 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Jerauld County. History The Wessington Springs townsite was founded in 1880 and platted i ...

, Jerauld County,

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota people, Lakota and Dakota peo ...

. The

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offering ...

, affiliated with the Free Methodist Church, was founded in as "Wessington Springs Seminary." It was renamed "Wessington Springs Junior College" in 1918, and became Wessington Springs College in 1932. For most of its existence the school offered a four-year

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

program, as well as a two-year

junior college A junior college (sometimes referred to colloquially as a juco, JuCo or JC) is a post-secondary educational institution offering vocational training designed to prepare students for either skilled trades and technical occupations and workers in su ...

curriculum. The college program at Wessington Springs was discontinued in , and the high school closed in . The institution's alumni records are now held by Central Christian College in

McPherson, Kansas McPherson () is a city in and the county seat of McPherson County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 14,082. The city is named after Union General James Birdseye McPherson, a Civil War general. It i ...

. The Wessington Springs campus buildings were razed in 1970, although a "Shakespearean garden" once maintained by the school still survives nearby.

External links

Shakespeare Garden, Wessington Springs

Central Christian College of Kansas
official web site Defunct private universities and colleges in South Dakota Universities and colleges established in 1887 Universities and colleges in the United States affiliated with the Free Methodist Church Demolished buildings and structures in South Dakota Buildings and structures demolished in 1970 1887 establishments in Dakota Territory {{SouthDakota-university-stub