Adrian College is a private, co-educational liberal arts college related to the United Methodist Church in the city of Adrian, Michigan. The school is approximately 45 minutes from Ann Arbor and Toledo, Ohio, and 90 minutes from Detroit. Its campus is on approximately 100 acres (0.4 km²) and features newly constructed facilities with modern designs and historic buildings recognized for their past, such as Downs Hall, home of the college's Stubnitz art gallery and theater program. The college had its origin as a theological institute founded by Wesleyan Methodists at Leoni, Michigan in 1845. This institution merged with Leoni Seminary, another Methodist school, in 1855 to form Michigan Union College. In 1859, that institution closed and its assets were transferred to Adrian to establish Adrian College. The college was chartered by the Michigan Legislature on March 28, 1859, under the first president of the college, abolitionist Asa Mahan. In the early stages of the American Civil War the college volunteered itself as a base for the formation of Michigan regiments for the Union side. The current Valade Hall building sits on the site of the former base camp for these soldiers.