With the help of town founder David Hudson, Western Reserve College and its Academy were founded in 1826. Often called "The Yale of the West," the college achieved early success as nearly all of its professors and presidents were Yale College graduates. It became involved nationally with the Underground Railroad and the anti-slavery movement 28 years before the Civil War began. The college also established the Loomis Observatory, named for Elias Loomis, a Yale tutor and Western Reserve College professor, which is now the second oldest observatory in the United States. Western Reserve College moved to Cleveland in 1882 and eventually became Case Western Reserve University, while the Academy remained in Hudson. Today, Western Reserve Academy is one of the nation's oldest and most respected independent college preparatory schools.