The Miami Military Institute (MMI) was a college preparatory military academy located in Germantown, Ohio. Originally founded as the Twin Valley College in 1885, the school was reorganized as the all-boys Miami Military Institute in 1894.
| Miami Military Institute | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Address | |
 | |
West Warren Street , United States | |
| Information | |
| Type | Military boarding school Private |
| Established | 1885 (Twin Valley College 1894 (Miami Military Institute)) |
| Founder | Col. Orvon Graff Brown |
| Closed | 1935 |
| Grades | 7-12 |
| Campus | 24 acres (9.7 ha) |
| Color(s) | Blue and white |
| Newspaper | The Bayonet (1909-1934) |
In 1885, Orvon Graff Brown, a 22-year old professor at the Cincinnati Wesleyan University, leased a disused building in Germantown.[1] The building had been built in 1876 for the failed Germantown Institute and was currently being used as a Militia Armory.[1] In 1886 Brown established the Twin Valley College, and a branch of the Ohio Conservatory of Music. Initially the school was staffed by instructors from the Wesleyan, which was headed by Brown's parents, Rev. W.K and Martha McClellan Brown.[2] In 1894 the school was reorganized into the Miami Military Institute. In December 1903 a fire destroyed the original Germantown Institute building, and a new campus was completed by the start of the 1904 school year. The school grew significantly throughout the 1910s and 1920s, but was significantly effected by the Great Depression. Following the death of its founder, Orvon Graff Brown, the school closed its doors in 1934.[3][4]
Almost 150 cadets of the academy served in World War I, more than half of them as commissioned officers. Seven of these cadets died in the conflict.[5]
Post-MMI building history
From the 1937 to the 1990s, the buildings that were once MMI acted as a Methodist camp, and was affectionately known as "Camp Miami" by locals. Due to increasing maintenance costs, the former MMI Campus was sold in the 1990s and a new building was constructed nearby for Camp Miami, which continued to operate into 2001.[3][6] It was later a very popular location for Urban exploration from the 1990s to 2015.
By 2015, the building was in an extreme state of disrepair. Most of the exterior windows had been broken by vandals and urban explorers trying to gain entry, and the roof was on the verge of collapsing due to lack of maintenance. Restoration was deemed impossible, so during the summer of 2015, the buildings on the site were demolished, and the asphalt parking lot removed. As of 2016, the only remaining structure on the site is the MMI's flagpole. The school's infirmary still stands, on South Main Street in Germantown.
Artifacts from the MMI can be found on display at both the Germantown historical society museum, located on West Center Street, and at the Veteran's Memorial Museum, located on South Main Street.
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