Morrow Hall

Morrow Hall was the first building of what is now Lyon College, which is the oldest, continuously operating independent college in the state. Lyon College moved from here to its current location on the eastern side of Batesville in 1955. Morrow Hall was built in 1873 and now belongs to the adjacent First Presbyterian Church. It was built of red brick and features a main entrance and windows with decorative arched stone heads. Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972, it was named after Morrow family, who donated funds to restore it.

In 1867, a young Presbyterian pastor named Rev. Isaac Long arrived in Batesville to become the principal of a children's school named Bastesville Academy, which had been established in 1836. In 1871, after Batesville was not chosen to be the location of a state university, Long led the effort to establish a denominational college instead. Lyon College was founded in 1872 as Arkansas College and Morrow Hall was completed in the spring of 1873. The college was nonsectarian and coeducational. Three of the first graduates in 1876 were women who were the first females in Arkansas to earn a bachelor's degree.

Enrollment remained at around 100 students before World War I but that number rose to 200 by the mid-1920s. However, the enrollment dropped in the 1930s and the college was in danger of closing due to financial difficulties. After World War II, veterans enrolled in high numbers into the early 1950s. By then, the college was spread out in three small locations including where Morrow Hall is now. It was apparent that it needed to consolidate into one campus and the school moved to its current location in 1955. First Presbyterian bought Morrow Hall and the rest of the former campus property in 1955.

Blevins, Brooks. "Lyon College." Encyclopedia of Arkansas. Last Updated December 7, 2016. https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/lyon-college-3580.

McElmurry, Max C. "Morrow Hall." National Park Service - National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form. October 18, 1972. https://catalog.archives.gov/OpaAPI/media/26142405/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_AR/72000205.pdf.