Decatur Baptist College was the world’s first institution to be planned (in 1898) as a junior college. This hall was built in 1892, for an earlier school. The Baptist Convention bought the property and turned it into Decatur Baptist College, through the support of 20 Wise County men who pledged $1,000 each.
The home of the world’s first junior college, the school was a preparatory school for Baylor University until it moved to Dallas in 1965 Baptist College. The last president of Decatur Baptist College was Dr. Otis Strickland. The building now stands in ruins after a fire in March 2023.