Weaubleau Christian Institute was founded in 1873 in Hickory County, Missouri, under the auspices of the Weaubleau Congregational Christian Church. The congregation of the church was made up of families living on newly settled farms, who chose a central location on which to erect a 2-story building large enough to accommodate a church on the first floor and an academy or secondary school on the second. A small town, first called Haran, but later renamed Weaubleau for the stream upon which it is located, grew up around the Church and Institute.