Clifton Lutheran College was organized on May 6, 1896, on land donated by N.J. Nelson and T.T. Hogevold. Its first building, erected with voluntary donations and labor, opened as a high school on Oct. 28, 1897; after 1923 it housed the artifacts collection of Jacob Olson, an early Norwegian settler. Under the direction of Dr. Carl Tyssen, president, college courses were offered in 1922, and the institution was accredited as a two-year college in 1924. The high school was discontinued in 1938, and the college merged with Texas Lutheran College of Seguin in 1954. Two buildings formerly used by the college remain on the site.