During the finishing school era, students here were the daughter's of industrialists, bankers and other members of society who's wealth permitted such an education. Here, young women would learn fine arts and languages, and be schooled in all the lessons of societal behavior and etiquette that would make them successful in their future roles as the wives of future bankers and industrialists.
By the start of the 20th century, reflecting a fundamental change in society, the “Bennett School for Girls” had changed over from a finishing school to a junior college, becoming known as “Bennett College”. It remained exclusive to women right up until a few years prior to its closing, in 1978.
Present day finds Halcyon Hall in a sad state. It stands, more a husk than a building. The campus is long over-grown, much of the beautiful architecture is weathered and collapsing, and the classrooms all sit in silence, as the have for some thirty years now. It has also come to be a polarizing symbol of the past, a relic of sorts, conjuring a range of emotions from somber remembrance, to anger, to disgust.
Some places keep time differently from the rest of the world. Though the hall itself may have passed away long ago, what it has gifted to the world will live on perpetually. Lessons were learned here, friendships were forged here, and memories still dwell here. The smell of lavender and the sound of a softly played piano are almost expected, even among the damp and dimly lit hallways which have so gently replaced them.
