The University of West Alabama began as Livingston Female Academy in 1835. As a church-related female academy, it admitted its first students in 1839. The school was established by Scots-Irish Presbyterians who constituted the majority of seats on the original board of trustees selected in 1836. The purpose of the school was to educate future teachers, while also offering course work in art, music, languages, and home economics. Jones Hall was the first building constructed on the campus in 1837, and was located near what is now Brock Hall.