Carson-Newman, a private, Christian liberal arts university, is located in Jefferson City, Tennessee, approximately 25 miles east of Knoxville. In the early 1840s, a number of Baptist leaders desired to offer better-prepared ministers to area congregations. Afforded the use of a local Baptist church building, Mossy Creek Missionary Baptist Seminary opened to students in the fall of 1851. In 1880, the school was named Carson College and
for several years existed alongside Newman College, a separate facility for the education of women. In 1889, the two colleges united as one of the first coeducational Baptist institutions. As Carson-Newman celebrates 160 years of rich history steeped in the ideals of truth, beauty, and goodness, it continues to prepare students academically and spiritually to meet the challenges of the 21st century.