The college was chartered on Feb. 20, 1880 and opened with 125 students. John L. Roper was president of the college's board.[1] The school was founded to reduce the flow of young women leaving Norfolk for their education.[2] It was located at the northwest corner of Granby and Washington Streets; in 1887 Washington Street was renamed "College Place".[3] In 1899, Mary Washington College took over the building for a few years.[4][5]
In 1905 the building reopened as the Algonquin Hotel,[3] one of several downtown hotels newly built or converted to accommodate the crowds of visitors expected for the Jamestown Exposition in 1907. Over the years, the building operated as a hotel under various names. In 1918, it became the Hotel Edward, and in 1936 the Hotel Lee.[3] Until the 1960s, the ground floor was the location of various retail stores on Granby St., including a People's Drug Store.[6] After a 1983 fire, the building was demolished.[3]
The school's former location on "College Place" is now part of the Norfolk campus of Tidewater Community College.
