Formerly known as Atlantic Christian College, Barton College in Wilson, North Carolina, has an institutional and denominational history that dates from 1893.
Carolina Christian College preceded Atlantic Christian College; it existed from 1893 to 1900. Carolina Christian College, established in Ayden, was an institution of higher learning for the Disciples of Christ denomination—a denomination that had a strong presence in the eastern parts of the Tar Heel State. In 1901, Disciples of Christ denomination leaders decided to build a larger school in Wilson and close the school in Ayden.
In 1901, Atlantic Christian College (ACC) was established. Its charter class consisted of 107 students. In 1923, ACC became a four-year college. In 1990, ACC’s name was changed to Barton College, in honor of one of the Disciples of Christ denomination’s founders, Barton Warren Stone. Stone had been a student at Caldwell Academy. In addition to having an athletic complex, the institution today has more than twenty buildings on a 32-acre Wilson campus. It has forty majors and other programs. The college’s fall 2024 enrollment included 1,149 undergraduates and 86 graduate students.