Chappell Hill Male and Female Institute

Chappell Hill Female College is a former private college in Chappell Hill, Texas. It was founded in 1850 as a coeducational school, first chartered in 1852, and later in the same decade became a Methodist institution and was rechartered as a women's college. It was closed in 1912; the building became a public school. The site is now occupied by a replacement school building that preserves the college bell.

The college was founded in 1850 with five teachers and 100 students as Chappell Hill Institute, a boarding school; the land was donated by Jacob and Mary Haller. It was chartered by the Texas Legislature on February 9, 1852 as Chappell Hill Male and Female Institute. A second building was added that year to separate the sexes. In fall 1852 it became Chappell Hill College and P. S. Ruter, who had taught at Transylvania University, became president. His sister Charlotte was head of the music department, and Elizabeth Knox headed the female division. Tuition for a session of five months was advertised as ranging from $8 for "beading and spelling" to $20 for "Natural Philosophy, Chemistry, Astronomy, Physiology, Algebra, Geometry, Latin, Greek, or the higher branches of Mathematics" and $25 for music or piano "with use of instrument".

In 1854 the college had 100 students, and was acquired by the Methodist Church as a replacement for Rutersville College. The male division became Soule University, and the female division was rechartered on August 29, 1856, as Chappell Hill Female College. Fires required replacing the building at least once, and the college was badly affected by the Civil War and by yellow fever epidemics, but it had paid off its debts by 1873. In 1878 the president was Epaminondas Dunn Pitts. In 1880–1881 the president was I. M. Onins, a Civil War veteran. A dormitory and a music hall were added in the 1880s, and the college played a prominent role in the culture of the area, particularly after Soule University closed in 1887; the college's monthly literary magazine, the Philomathean, was active in raising money in the mid-1880s to establish a home for Confederate veterans.

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