Nearby was The town of Jireh founded at the same time as the College. The town at one time had two banks, a lumber yard, post office, store, express office, three general stores, a rooming house, hotel, blacksmith and newspaper. The newspaper, Jireh Record published from 1913 until January 1914. Two-Thirds of the front page of its fist two edicitons were taken up with announcements of the opening for sale of state-owned school lands. Three months after the paper's last issue in 1914, it was replaceced by the Jireh Tribune managed by Daniel B. Adkinson (1869-1933). Dr. Adkinson was President of the College. The post office served smaller towns further to the south as far away as Flattop at first on a two-day a week basis later deliveries to the south were later on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays. Additionally, a dry farming experimental farm grew sugar beets, wheat, potatoes, and alfalfa. The college was intended to provide a liberal arts education to the children of settlers in the area and actively supported the dry-farming movement including hosting of meetings and symposia on the subject. One such meeting was attended by Governor Carey.

In 1916, Dr. Adkinson writing in the Christian Annual 1917 p. 33 noted:

Jireh College was founded for the purpose of giving a Christian education to the boys and girls of the last great American frontier. On the ranches and farms and in the small towns of the West, there are many young people who do not have high school privileges within their reach. They must go away from their homes for these advantages. Jireh College offers these boys and girls a high school education and two years of college work under Christian influences at a reasonable cost. Many students come from communities that do not have religious privileges. The college is a messenger of Jesus Christ to such students. A new steam heating plant is being installed in Wilkinson Hall. This im- provement makes it possible to utilize the entire building for school purposes. The next improvement to be made is the erection of a dormitory. This building is a necessity and must be provided in order to increase the number of students. It is the plan of the trustees to erect this building in the spring of 1917. The new dormitory, together with the present facilities, will enable the college to care for at least one hundred students.

The college is gradually enlarging its faculty, increasing its student body, providing better equipment, and widening the scope of its work.

But already, the optimism was begining to dry up. On 7 May 1915, the Royal Mail Ship Lusitania was torpedoed and sunk by a German U-boat. In 1917, bumbling efforts by the German Foreign Office promising in the even of war to retun Texas, New Mexico and Arizona to Mexico resulted in the United States entering the War. At the same time a period of aridness overtook the western Great Plains. The dew was off dry farming. In 1916, the Tribune ceased publication. The bank closed. Thus, the plans for expansion were put on hold. In the 1920 Annualp. 42 Dr. Adkinson noted that due to the war, the college's work was "curtailed" for the year. All of the men who had graduated from the school save one, enlisted in the army or in the Student's Army Training Corps. One, Earl Norris, died shortly after arriving in France. He had enlisted two days following his graduation. For the academic year, 1919-1920, Dr. Adkinson reported, the school had 62 students and plans were underway for reorganization of all courses and the erection of new buildings. With, however, the end of the war and the de-emphasis of dry farming, the Chuch ended its financial support.

The college closed its doors in 1920. The last graduation was on June 2 at 8:00 p.m. in the School Chapel. The last Graduation speaker was The Reverend Christian G. Nelson,from Gresham, Nebraska, a former president of Kansas College, Lincoln Kansas. The population of the town fell from an estimated 50 to 24 the following year.