August 12, 1843

A group of interested citizens gathered at the Mount Comfort Meeting House, located three miles northwest of Fayetteville (Washington County). The meeting resulted in the creation of a seven-person committee to recommend a plan, fundamental principles, a name, and a location for what became the Far West Seminary, a planned collegiate-level educational institution in northwest Arkansas. The seminary ultimately failed to materialize due to political and religious factionalism, economic hard times, and a major fire. However, the effort proved to be a seedbed for other northwest Arkansas educational endeavors prior to the Civil War that helped Fayetteville earn the nickname “the Athens of Arkansas.”