Rutersville College

Rutersville College

The main building of Rutersville College
Active	1840–1856
Founder	Martin Ruter
Affiliation	Independent (Methodist)
Location	Rutersville , Texas , United States
Campus	Rural

Rutersville College (occasionally misspelled Ruterville College), was a college located in the unincorporated community of Rutersville in Fayette County, Texas, United States. Chartered under the Republic of Texas in 1840, Rutersville College was Texas's first institution of higher education. It was named for Methodist missionary and educator Martin Ruter, who wrote the school's charter and raised funds to establish the institution, which he originally intended to be named Bastrop College. The Congress of Texas initially rejected the school's charter because it affiliated the school with the Methodist Church. Ruter died two years before the school finally opened under a revised charter excluding a religious affiliation.^[1]