Griswold College, Davenport, Iowa

Around 1858 the Rt. Rev. Henry Washington Lee, first Bishop of Iowa, bought the property of Iowa College, Davenport. In 1859 he secured a charter for Griswold College, named for Bishop Alexander Viets Griswold of the Eastern Diocese. This venture was to be “the college of the Trans Mississippi bishops and sees,” but this interdiocesan aspect was never realized. A theological department opened in 1861, which was called Lee Hall after Bishop Lee's death in 1874. Kemper Hall for boys served as a preparatory department until it closed in 1895. St Katherine's School for Girls was established under Bishop William Stevens Perry. The college, the boy's school, and the theological department closed in the 1890s.