Graysville is named for William Gray, an early settler who was appointed postmaster in 1875. The town expanded in the 1880s, when the arrival of the railroad brought coal extraction industries to the area. During this period, the Dayton Coal and Iron Company established a major operation at Graysville. Coal mined nearby was converted into coke, which in turn was used to fuel two blast furnaces to produce pig iron. This operation continued until the Great Depression brought about a general collapse in the industry in the 1930s.
Geography
Graysville is located at . It is situated along Roaring Creek between Walden Ridge and Blackoak Ridge, just north of the Rhea-Hamilton line. U.S. Route 27 passes through the eastern part of Graysville while State Route 303 passes straight through downtown. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of, all of it land.
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 1,411 people, 551 households, and 400 families residing in the town. The population density was 1,745.1 people per square mile. There were 610 housing units at an average density of 754.4 per square mile. The racial makeup of the town was 97.24% White, 0.64% African American, 0.21% Native American, 0.07% Pacific Islander, 0.57% from other races, and 1.28% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.49% of the population. There were 551 households, out of which 36.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.1% were married couplesliving together, 17.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.4% were non-families. 23.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.56 and the average family size was 3.01. In the town, the population was spread out, with 27.1% under the age of 18, 9.6% from 18 to 24, 31.3% from 25 to 44, 22.0% from 45 to 64, and 10.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median agewas 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 85.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 81.2 males. The median income for a household in the town was $28,370, and the median income for a family was $32,163. Males had a median income of $28,810 versus $20,885 for females. The per capita income for the town was $12,244. About 13.5% of families and 17.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 22.3% of those under age 18 and 16.0% of those age 65 or over.
