The Utica Institute was founded by William Holtzclaw in 1903 and moved to this site in 1910. Modeled after the Tuskegee Institute, it was considered by Booker T. Washington a prime example of his vision for African American education. Known by a variety of names, including the Hinds Agricultural High School-Colored and Utica Junior College, the school merged with Hinds Junior College in 1983 to become the Utica Campus of Hinds Community College while maintaining the traditions of a historically Black college.