Historical marker located on U.S. Highway 20,

Niobrara County. Wyoming

Photograph by Lesley Boughton      March 2008

Monument located on U.S. Highway 20

Niobrara County. Wyoming

Photograph by Lesley Boughton   March 2008 

Inscription from Jireh Historical Marker       

'In the early 1900's, when homesteaders flocked to eastern Wyoming where agricultural opportunities seemed very promising, the Christian Church of Dayton, Ohio organized a religious agricultural colony and college fourteen miles west of Lusk and named the settlement Jireh.

At the heart of this community was Jireh College, a two-year liberal arts college and the first junior college in Wyoming. The cornerstone of the main and only college building, Wilkinson Hall, was laid on October 21, 1909.  Classes were first held in January 1910, but not until July 1910 was Wilkinson Hall ready to receive students.

Jireh College had a small faculty, but offered classes in art, the Bible, English, ethics, German, Greek, Latin, mathematics, music, and psychology. The college also provided an academy or high school, which, for a time, was the only one available to area students. Students were expected to abide by strict codes of personal conduct and attend religious services.

The town of Jireh grew up around the college. From 1908 to 1920 nearly 100 people lived here. The business district included a bank, a couple of general stores, a hotel, a mill, a newspaper, a telephone company, and a garage. Jireh's founders prohibited intoxicating liquors, cigarettes, gambling and prostitution within the town limits.

Because the semi-arid climate was not conducive to the raising of crops and dry-farming methods were not widely adopted, many farmers left the area by 1920. The lack of church support and the dwindling population resulted in the demise of Jireh and Jireh College. The college graduated its last class in 1920, and then closed its doors. By 1925, most buildings in Jireh were either destroyed or had been sold to area residents. A few basic services remained but these, too, eventually withered away. The post office was discontinued in 1943.'