September 27, 1843

The committee that had gathered at the Mount Comfort Meeting House—located three miles northwest of Fayetteville (Washington County)—to recommend a plan, fundamental principles, a name, and a location for what became the Far West Seminary, made its report. They chose the name “Far West Seminary” in order to emphasize the western location of the planned institution. The seminary ultimately failed 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.”