Salisbury High School, formerly Boyden High School, was completed in 1926 and named in honor of Colonel Archibald Henderson Boyden. It is one of many handsome schools built across North Carolina in the 1920's. The three-story blond brick building was designed in a scholastic Gothic style by C. Gadsen Sayre and constructed by L. S. Bradshaw. The beautiful, fully air-conditioned facility is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Six additional buildings were constructed to house the school’s expanded offerings and enrollment. In 1970, Boyden and J.C. Price high schools consolidated to form Salisbury High School. Significant facility enhancements occurred between 1997 and 1999 when the library was converted to a high-tech, Internet-based media center.
The three-story steel re-enforced concrete building is covered with a creamy buff brick brick veneer with carved stone and terra cotta detail to accentuate the building's Gothic flavor. The rectangular plan of the building is dominated by a well-detailed five-stage tower centered on, and projecting from, the south front elevation. A trio of entrances occupies the first story while pared windows fill the bays on the two stories above. The former gymnasium, currently the media center, and the auditorium are contained in large over-scaled ells which project from the front of the building enframing a space which serves as a forecourt for the structure.
