While its beginnings were as a Methodist academy in Orlando in the fall of 1883, by 1884, the Florida Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church had taken over sponsorship. In 1885, a collegiate-level curriculum was adopted, marking the official start of the college. President Joshua Hollingsworth moved what had become known as Florida Conference College to Leesburg in 1886. In 1902, citing the need to expand, the college moved to Sutherland (Palm Harbor) and was called Florida Seminary under President Shade Walker. The Southern College was the next name change for the institution, occurring in 1906. While surviving a horrific storm and an influenza epidemic in 1918, the college suffered devastating losses to a fire in 1921. A Clearwater hotel provided temporary headquarters to the college until 1922 when Lakeland became the home to Southern College.