Converse College, is a women’s liberal arts college founded in 1889. It is named for textile magnate Dexter Converse, who ran several area cotton mills such as Glendale Mill and Clifton Mill. In January 1892, the campus’s main building burned. Construction on the present building, seen above, began that April. In 1929 the building was named Wilson Hall for the school’s first president, the Reverend B.F. Wilson