It attracted the daughters of wealthy families throughout the Southeast looking for a junior college with the prestige of a Virginia location.

In the 1930s, Martin opened a subsidiary institution, Arlington Hall, in the Virginia outskirts of Washington, D.C. During World War II, Arlington Hall was closed, and the facilities came under the control of the federal government, which operated it as an American Bletchley Park—a super secret facility where enemy radio messages were carefully decoded.

Sullins College in Bristol remained under the control of the Martin family until the 1960s, when they passed it to an independent board of trustees.

The state Council of Higher Education recommended against the acquisition, and the governor declined the offer in late October 1975.

King University, in Bristol, Tennessee, is the custodian of the Sullins College records and maintains an active relationship with alumnae of the institution.

Pursued by college officials and police officers into Tennessee, the couples married in Hawkins County a few minutes before their pursuers arrived.

[10] In 1946, the Sampler placed third for the Methodist Award among more than 300 schools competing in a competition overseen by the Columbia Scholastic Press Association.

After the college closed in 1976, the school moved its operation to the campus' Martin Hall in the summer of 1977 taking the name Sullins Academy to better identify its non-sectarian nature.