Boydton Academic and Bible Institute opened in 1879 in the former main building of Randolph-Macon College, which had relocated to Ashland in 1868. Dr. Charles Cullis, a humanitarian from Boston, bought the property in 1878 and established the school partly to train African American preachers and teachers. He sent the Rev. and Mrs. C.W. Sharpe to Boydton to run it, but after Rev. Sharpe died soon after their arrival, Mrs. Helen Bradford Sharpe assumed leadership and guided the Institute for more than 30 years. The school included the former main college building, a large four-story brick structure, Steward's Hall for dining and social events, and a two-story frame house for the headmistress. In 1910 the Christian and Missionary Alliance of New York City purchased the school and operated it until 1916, when it was forced to close because of lack of support. Soon afterward, an alumni board of trustees reopened it with tuition fees and private contributions, added four years of high school courses, and saw its first high school class graduate in 1927. After 1929, high school subjects were dropped, and the school continued as an elementary school until its permanent closure in 1935. Through the efforts of Dr. Cullis, Mrs. Sharpe, and others, the Institute produced many of the finest teachers and ministers in Mecklenburg County and the surrounding region during the past century.