On this site on the Hoboken Plantation in 1887, the first building of Bolton College was erected under the provisions of the will of Wade H. Bolton, a prominent landowner who was killed in 1869 by a former business partner in Court Square, Memphis, during the notorious Bolton-Dickens feud that lasted from 1857 to 1871. Bolton's bequest included $10,000 to build the school and an outright gift of 300 acres for the school grounds and supporting farm. After the death of Bolton's widow, the farm increased to 1200 acres, consolidating the remaining plantation property. Bolton College operated as an agricultural school and teachers' preparatory school from 1887 until 1911, when it became associated with the Shelby County public school system. In 1925 it was converted into a regular high school, and in 1978 it was completely rebuilt, with several expansions since then. The Bolton College Board of Trustees continues to assist the Shelby County Board of Education in providing special additional educational facilities on this site, making Bolton High School the only privately subsidized public school in Tennessee.