Chartered as a high school by the Kentucky Legislature in 1856, the school had trustees Dr. D. Porter, S.T. Drane, Morris Thomas, Preston Thomas, James Drane, W. B. Wilson, and W. J. Mason. In 1861, it was given the name Eminence College. Men and women were equally represented at one of the state’s first coeducational boarding schools. From 1858 to 1893, W.S. Giltner, who trained at Bethany College, West Virginia, served as president. He and his wife, Lizzie Rains Giltner, led the college, creating a commercial department in 1880 and a normal school for training teachers in 1886. Reverend Giltner also preached at Eminence Christian Church. Enrollment peaked around 200, and the college closed in 1895.