A Church of the Brethren college in Illinois that operated from 1879 to 1932.
Mount Morris College originated as Rock River Seminary, founded by the Methodist Church in 1839. The Methodists closed the seminary in 1878 and sold the grounds to the Church of the Brethren, who reopened it in 1879 as Mount Morris Seminary and Collegiate Institute. The institution officially became Mount Morris College in 1884. Despite initial success, the college faced severe challenges: a fire in January 1912 destroyed a main building, and another fire in April 1932 destroyed a dormitory and damaged other structures. The financial strain of the second fire, combined with the Great Depression, proved insurmountable.
Mount Morris College closed permanently at the end of the school year in May 1932. Enrollment had declined significantly after World War I, though it briefly recovered in 1929–1930. The combination of two major fires and the economic crisis of the Great Depression exhausted the institution's resources and ability to continue operations.
The college was a member of the Illinois Intercollegiate Athletic Conference from 1922 to 1931, indicating active participation in regional collegiate athletics during its final decade of operation.