Huguenot High School

Huguenot High School , part of the Richmond Public Schools system, is a high school in Richmond, Virginia, United States for grades 9–12. Huguenot High School was named in honor of the Huguenots, French Protestants who emigrated to the English Virginia Colony beginning in the early 18th century. In 2022, the student body was approximately 60 percent African American and 30 percent Hispanic. History Land for the benefit of children Huguenot High School and nearby Fred D. Thompson Middle School were built on land which was earlier known as "The Old Burton Place", a tract with an antebellum farmhouse. The land, described by a historian as poor for farming due to the many rocks on the site, was purchased by J.R.F. and Lucy Burroughs, a childless couple. In 1889, they opened an orphanage originally called "The Home for Friendless Children". The devout couple never solicited for funds, but there are tales of the support they received anyway. When Mr. Burroughs died in 1915, he was buried at a site now surrounded by neighboring apartments. There, his tombstone reads "Faithful unto Death". Burroughs Street in nearby Bon Air was named for the couple. After Mr. Burroughs died, the orphanage was taken over by others, and became known as the Bethany Home. It was supported by the community, notably including Bon Air Presbyterian Church, until it closed during the 1940s. Part of the facility was used for the elderly and disabled, and some of the land north of modern Forest Hill Avenue still in such use at the beginning of the 21st century.