Page "Montreat College" Paragraph 4

The beauty and tranquility of the Blue Ridge Mountains led Congregationalist minister John C. Collins to form the Mountain Retreat Association in 1897 “ for the encouragement of Christian work and living through Christian convention, public worship, missionary work, schools, and libraries .” By 1907, J. R. Howerton of Charlotte, North Carolina, conceived and carried out the idea of purchasing Montreat for the Presbyterian Church in the United States.

Then, in 1913, Dr. Robert C. Anderson, president of the Mountain Retreat Association, proposed that the grounds and facilities of the Association be used for a school during the academic year.

In 1915, the General Assembly decreed “ that the property of the Mountain Retreat Association be used for a Normal School and that the establishment of the school be referred to the Synods .”