Soule College was an institution of higher learning in Dodge City, Kansas

Dodge City, Kansas

Dodge City is a city in, and the county seat of, Ford County, Kansas, United States. Named after nearby Fort Dodge, the city is famous in American culture for its history as a wild frontier town of the Old West. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 27,340.-History:The first settlement of...

 that operated from 1888 until 1903. The college advertised board for $2 per week and tuition for $24 per year.

In the late nineteenth century, Asa T. Soule, a native of Rochester, New York

Rochester, New York

Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. Known as The World's Image Centre, it was also once known as The Flour City, and more recently as The Flower City...

, made his fortune and reputation as the "Hop Bitters King" by peddling a patent medicine of Hop Bitters. Looking for a place to invest his newfound millions, Soule traveled west to Kansas. He initially invested in a scheme to build an irrigation ditch across western Kansas, but soon decided to invest in higher education. In 1886 Soule partially endowed a new Presbyterian college in Dodge City with $50,000 dollars, thus giving birth to Soule College.

After the school closed, the property was eventually purchased by St. Mary of the Plains College

St. Mary of the Plains College

St. Mary of the Plains College was a four-year liberal arts college located in Dodge City, Kansas.-Soule College:The roots of St. Mary of the Plains can be found in Soule College, which opened in 1888 to a gala celebration. Hopes for higher education in western Kansas were dashed by the economic...

, which later also closed.