Buffalo Gap College was founded in 1885 by the Presbyterian Church after previously operating as a high school. In its peak year, more than 300 pupils, many from distant places, attended. Its first president was W.H. White, and the college had its greatest success under J.M. Wagstaff. Later presidents were J.W. Melton, R.W. Benge, E.W. Dorian, J.N. Ellis, John Collier, J.B. Clay, and again W.H. White. Its two-story red sandstone building had four classrooms on the first floor, an auditorium on the second, and a belfry. The curriculum included Latin, Greek, Christian evidence, physics, calculus, and music.