The college was founded in 1848 by a group of abolitionists who had left Kentucky because of their opposition to slavery and was originally named the Walnut Grove Academy.

[9] On March 27, 2009, the former leader of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, visited the section of the Berlin Wall on display in the Reagan Peace Garden on campus.

Eureka gave President Gorbachev an honorary degree during a convocation in which students asked the former Soviet leader questions.

[11] As part of the Ronald Reagan Centennial Celebration in 2011, former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Newt Gingrich delivered the commencement address at Eureka.

[13] James A. Baker III was named Honorary Reagan Fellow in 2012,[14] and this honor was bestowed on Justice Sandra Day O'Connor the next year.

[15] George P. Shultz, former U.S. Secretary of State, received was made an Honorary Reagan Fellow at a ceremony in San Francisco in 2014.

The items are from his times as a student, actor, athlete, Governor of California and President of the United States.

In February 2020, the college's chapter of Delta Sigma Phi was disciplined due to unknown allegations.

Following his graduation on June 10, 1932, with a joint major in economics and sociology,[27] Reagan returned for visits on twelve recorded occasions.

He served on the board of trustees for three terms, stayed connected to his fraternity Tau Kappa Epsilon, communicated with his football coach and mentor Ralph "Mac" McKinzie, and helped support fund-raising drives including with his own financial commitments to the college.