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History · Haysi

Haysi’s post office opened in 1900, and 16% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1913 on and the census since 1940.

1900first post office
0on the National Register
16%homes built before 1940
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Photo: Magnolia677 · CC BY 4.0
Quick answers

How Haysi began

When was Haysi founded?

1900

The Haysi post office opened in 1900, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1936. Three smaller post offices, Mart (1909), Spashdam (1918) and Martha Gap (1924), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 623 in 19402020 census: 484126 years
Founding year: the first Haysi post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1936.The full story ↓

What stands out about Haysi’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Haysi are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost two-thirds of its people between 1940 and 2000, then more than doubled.Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Haysi, and 1 old place names are still on the map.On the map since 19133 editions of the USGS map, 1913 to 1977. Watch Haysi change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Haysi’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Haysi’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Haysi, census by census

010020030040050060019401960198020002020623 in 1940Low: 186

Lost two-thirds of its people between 1940 and 2000, then more than doubled.

9 censuses, 1940–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Haysi’s Wikipedia page.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and old corners

Haysi’s post office has been open since 1900. Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Haysi
1900–today
Mart
1909–1917
Spashdam
1918–1958
Martha Gap
1924–1945
19001960today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Mart

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

The story

How Haysi came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Haysi.

Read it all →

Haysi, once known as "Turkey Foot" or "The Mouth of McClure", is at the confluence of Russell Prater Creek, the McClure River, and the Russell Fork river. The hilly terrain is subject to severe floods, but was occupied at least seasonally for centuries. As English settlers moved into the Appalachians, David Musick and his family settled near New Garden Fort on the Clinch River, but Shawnee raiders burned the house, killed him and abducted his wife and five children on August 12, 1792. The following day, fellow settlers encountered the raiders near here, freed the rest of the family and killed an Indian in the skirmish. About two miles away, in the hamlet known as Birchleaf a historical marker remembers John Colley, who settled nearby and supervised lands claimed by a wealthy landowner before further settlement began in the Sandy Basin area in the 1830s (and which became Dickenson County…

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Haysi, 1900 to 1958

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 20th century
  2. 1900Post officeThe Haysi post office opens
  3. 1909Post officeThe Mart post office opens
  4. 1913On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1917Post officeThe Mart post office closes
  6. 1918Post officeThe Spashdam post office opens
  7. 1940CensusPopulation peaks at 623
  8. 1958Post officeThe Spashdam post office closes
By decade

Haysi, decade by decade

Today3 recent
2017-06-12 10 15 51 View east along Virginia State Route 80 (Helen Henderson Highway) at Virginia State Route 83 (Dicke…20172017-06-12 10 15 51 View east along Virginia State Ro…Veteran’s Memorial Walk of Honor2014Veteran’s Memorial Walk of HonorHaysi, Virginia2014Haysi, Virginia
On the map

Haysi on the map, 1913 to 1977

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Haysi. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Haysi on the 1913 USGS mapHaysi on the 1963 USGS mapHaysi on the 1977 USGS map1913Clintwood sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Haysi.

Famous people

Famous people close to Haysi

Nobody well known was born in Haysi itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
George C. ScottAmerican actor, film director and producer · b. 1927
Dwight YoakamAmerican country singer-songwriter, actor, and … · b. 1956
Bev PerdueAmerican politician and 73rd Governor of North … · b. 1947
P
Patty LovelessAmerican country music singer · b. 1957
G
Gary StewartAmerican singer · b. 1944
Mark ReynoldsAmerican baseball player · b. 1983

Questions about Haysi’s history

What year was Haysi founded?

The Haysi post office opened in 1900, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1936.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (3), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.