The Georgia town of Auburn also had a connection to a college

Q: I heard there used to be a college in the Georgia town of Auburn. What was it,

and how long was it around?

A: For a short time around the turn of the 20th century, Auburn was indeed a college town, but it lost that distinction by 1925.

In the latter part of the 19th century, a local Baptist minister sought an educational alternative to sending the community’s boys and girls to school at Mercer University (Macon), Shorter College (Rome) or Bessie Tift College (Forsyth), according to the city of Auburn’s website.

An elementary and high school was established, and by 1888, it was attracting boarding students from many parts of the state to the growing town of Auburn, which today straddles Gwinnett and Barrow counties.

In 1892, the Baptists expanded their educational mission in Auburn, when the Mulberry Baptist Asso- ciation established the Perry-Rainey Institute as a college. The institute, named for donors Mrs. W.T. Perry and the Rev. Hiram Rainey, opened in 1893, according to a historical marker erected by the city and the Friends of Barrow County Historical Society.

But by 1915, the Perry-Rainey Institute had closed and been sold to the Christian Church. The Christian Church was renamed and the Southeastern Christian College operated for the next 10 years, according to “The Encyclopedia of the Stone-Campbell Movement.”

“Ina d equate support resulted in this college’s closing its doors in 1925,” the

encyclopedia stated. Today, the city of Auburn, thanks in large part to Gwin

nett County’s growth, is experiencing a residential and commercial boom. As the city looks to its future, it is still working to maintain strong ties to its past.

Several years ago, the city purchased the former Perry-Rainey Institute dorm at 16 College St., said its current mayor, Linda Blechinger. The city received a $500,000 Redevelopment Fund grant, which along

with $130,000 from the city and a $196,000 in-kind con

tribution from the Georgia Department of Corrections, will complete Phase I of the dorm’s rehab.

In August, the renovated building will open as the Auburn Center, which will benefit 100 students annually through Lanier Technical College adult education classes and will serve as a community facility. Future plans are for the building to host events and a co-working business center.

Land for the project, which Blechinger expects to break ground next year, was purchased with funds from a previous Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax. The city has budgeted $2 million from a Barrow County

SPLOST approved in 2017 to fund the new City Hall complex.