About

Randolph–Macon was founded in 1830 by Methodists Rev. Hekeziah G. Leigh, Rev. John Early[6] and Staten Islander Gabriel Poillon Disosway. It was originally located in Boydton, near the North Carolina border; but as the railroad link to Boydton was destroyed during the Civil War, the college's trustees decided to relocate the school to Ashland in 1868. The college takes its name from Virginia statesmen John Randolph of Roanoke and North Carolina statesman Nathaniel Macon. (The original site of Randolph–Macon features a historical marker and ruins of the classroom buildings). The original campus became the home of the Boydton Academic and Bible Institute, a Christian school for African Americans which operated from 1878 to 1935.