Tracing its lineage to an act known as "the Jackson Purchase," a large portion of land west of the Tennessee River gleaned from the Chickasaw Indians, the beginnings of Union University was actually a result of the passion of pioneers. The area soon hosted large numbers of newcomers whose concern was the education of the area. The Pioneer, the newspaper for the region, advertised in its January 27, 1823, issue that Jackson Male Academy would hold classes at "the north east of the public square in an area beautifully set in oaks." Evidently, this first campus was near the town square. Precise location of the area was uncertain until time of the founding of West Tennessee College in the 1846. An official act of congress set apart the land as an endowment at a location in Jackson under a new charter. The first catalogue of West Tennessee College informed potential students that a new campus had been purchased for the use of the institution described as a "beautiful site formerly the residence of Major A. C. Maton." West Tennessee College continued until its closure prior to the commencement of the Civil War.

Union University's first formal campus was shared with the First Baptist Church of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, in what was then known as Bradley Academy. The long time pastor of the First Baptist Church of Nashville, Tennessee, R.B.C. Howell, was the chief proponent of the university's founding and the innovative mind behind its constitution and placement as a Baptist institution in the heart of Tennessee. The wishes of Pastor Howell and B.F. Farnsworth, President of Georgetown College in Kentucky who, at the invitation of Howell, entertained the motion at an October 12, 1839, meeting of the Baptist Education Society during the state convention in Nashville. The motion passed and was followed by the election of trustees - of whom R.B.C. Howell was the first chairman. Union University moved to Mufreesboro early in the year 1841 and commenced its first session of classes in Bradley Academy on May 2, with three faculty members.

From those early beginnings the enrollment of the university continued to increase. In 1850, Union left the small Bradley Academy building for a much more spacious building on East Main Street in the heart of the town. This move placed the school in a much more accessible vicinity of the new Nashville turnpike. Soon, however, Civil War hostilities grew to such an overwhelming state that the new Union University campus building served as a military hospital for four years. The building was damaged so heavily that it was thought by many that the building was beyond repair and should be abandoned. After a brief and feeble resurgence following the War, Union closed its doors as an institution in Mufreesboro.

Many events transpired between that closing and the development of what came to be known as Southwestern Baptist University. Following a meeting in Mufreesboro another institution - Southwestern Baptist University - was born. This time, however, the location of the university was to be the town of Jackson, Tennessee. The placement of earlier institutions in this area prompted this as a decision suitable for this new endeavor. The name was quickly changed to Union and a building campaign began soon after the turn of the century with the final construction of what would become the center piece of campus architecture - Barton Hall. This building served as the landmark of the university with its eight stately columns and handsome appearance.

The campus became a victim, however, of deterioration and the decision was made in 1975 by President Robert E. Craig to move the campus to north Jackson where it now resides. The expansion of the current campus continues under the leadership of President David Dockery. A Campus Master Plan has been developed where a new campus closely resembling the architecture of earlier days - especially that of Barton Hall - can lead modern students as agents of transformation for the coming millennium. Expansion continues with the inauguration of a campus extension in the fast-growing suburb of Memphis - Germantown, Tennessee.