"Washington Academy, from which Washington College sprang, was chartered by the Legislature, Sept. 24, 1787 [arguably the earliest charter for any educational institution west of the Alleghenies] -five years after the town of Washington was laid out, and six years after the establishment of Washington County, which was the first county formed after the Declaration of Independence... After much effort, the Academy was put in operation in 1789, under Rev. Thaddeus Dod, who, in 1782, had opened, within his pastoral charge on Ten Mile, what his friends claim was the first classical and scientific school in the West." -- Biographical and Historical Catalogue of Washington and Jefferson College, 1902. Soon after, the Board ordered the erection of an Academy building, which is still standing and now named McMillan Hall. On March 28, 1806, a Charter was granted establishing Washington College at Washington, Pa., the county seat.

During its 60-year existence the school graduated 872 students. Among the distinguished alumni of Washington College are: Francis J. LeMoyne (1815), builder of the first crematory in the United States; Henry A. Wise (1825), Governor of Virginia; William H. McGuffey (1826), author of McGuffey's Readers; James G. Blaine (1847), Secretary of State and candidate for the Presidency; Dudley Evans (1859), President of Wells Fargo.