Hayden Village Center

The Hayden Village Center initiative includes the adaptive rehabilitation of Hayden High School, a historic African American high school located in rural Franklin, Virginia. The existing structure is an approximately 50,355 square foot brick building on about 6.9 acres which served as the high school for African American youth in the City of Franklin from 1953 until 1970. The school was named after Della I Hayden, born into slavery and a Hampton University graduate (1877) who founded a private boarding school for African American girls, nearby the site of the existing High School, in 1904. She served as Principal of the school (Franklin Normal School) until her death in 1924. It is Della’s spirit for learning, teaching and community that will be memorialized in this center. Subsequently it was operated as a high school and then a middle school. It is owned by the City of Franklin and has been closed since 1986.
The completed Hayden Village Center will include a number of community services for seniors, pre-school age children, and youth all under one roof. It is Della’s spirit for learning, teaching and community that will be memorialized in this adaptive rehabilitation of the historic Hayden High School building, which will break ground later this fall.

For more information, please go to www.ssseva.org or email Debbie Schwartz, Director of Development and Community Relations at dschwartz@ssseva.org