In the second half of the 19th century, there were six Armenian churches in Harput. Five of them were Armenian Apostolic and one was Protestant. Protestant missionary activity in Harput and the surrounding area began in 1855. An American missionary school was established near the citadel, providing an education mainly for Armenians. The missionary-run Euphrates College was the only high school in the town. There was also a French missionary school. The town's Armenians had their own educational centers as well, consisting of five church schools and the Smpadian coeducational academy. Harput's community of Syriac Christians had their own quarter and numbered around 800 people, according to one estimate. The Syriacs spoke Armenian as their first language and had close ties with the Armenian community. There was at least one school in the Syriac quarter, and a separate Syriac girls' school was founded in 1909.
