Starting in a two room log house in rural Bowdon, Georgia, the school was chartered the following year becoming Georgia's fifth chartered high-learning institution and first co-educational institution.
[2][3] During the Civil War the school closed for a short time as most students and McDaniel joined the Confederate army.
[4] After the war in 1866, the George legislature passed a bill providing free tuition at institutions including Bowden for maimed or indigent former soldiers under 30.
[5] In 1919, due to economic and financial issues, the state legislature passed a bill to place the school under University of Georgia's trustees and renamed it Bowden State Normal and Industrial College.
[6][7] The school remained part of the state system until 1933 when it was returned to private status as part of a consolidation effort during The Great Depression.