The institute was established by Benjamin Hyde Benton, Harmon Bitzer and James Gulick, who were active in the Agricultural Society of Loudoun, on land belonging to Gulick's family. The school lasted for only six years, suffering from the Panic of 1857 and failing in 1860. Gulick put the property up for sale, but with the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861, was unable to sell. Gulickjoined the Confederate Army and was killed in 1864 at the Battle of Upperville. The property was by his estate to a neighbor, Isabella Turner. Turner's estate sold the property to the Institute Corporation in 1916, whereupon the property became the headquarters for the National Beagle Club of America, which retains the property.