Calloway Normal College was established by 1899 under the leadership of Rainey T. Wells, later president of Murray State Teachers College. Land for the college was deeded to trustees in 1899, and students came from a wide area and boarded in private homes in Kirksey. The school operated as a teachers college until 1913. After Calloway Normal College ceased operation in 1913, Kirksey High School occupied the property until 1960, when county high schools were merged. The school then functioned as an elementary center until 1974, when these centers consolidated. The next year Kirksey United Methodist Church purchased the property.