Hailey is a city in and the county seat of Blaine County, in the Wood River Valley of the central part of the U.S. state of Idaho. The population was 7,960 at the 2010 census, up from 6,200 in 2000. Hailey is the site of Friedman Memorial Airport (SUN), the airport for the resort area of Sun Valley/Ketchum, 12 miles north. The town of Bellevue is a few miles south. From 1882-95, Hailey was the county seat of now-defunct Alturas County. The city is named after John Hailey, a two-time Congressional delegate from the Idaho Territory. Hailey is the current home of retired tennis professional and seven time Grand Slam winner Mats Wilander. The poet Ezra Pound was born there in 1885. US Dressage Olympian Debbie McDonald lives there as well with her husband hunter / jumper trainer Bob.