Graysville

City of Graysville
Incorporated	1946
Population	2,165
Mayor	Mary Sue Morgan
School district	Jefferson County Schools
Government	Graysville City Council Graysville Fire Department Graysville Police Department
Web site	graysvillecity.com
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Graysville (incorporated in 1946) is a city of 2,165 on 16.92 square miles adjoining U.S. Highway 78 in northwest Jefferson County, east of Adamsville. The Mayor of Graysville is Mary Sue Morgan and the Graysville City Hall is located at 246 South Main Street. The Graysville City Council has six elected members.

The city operates its own Graysville Fire Department, a park and recreation department, and a streets department. The city dissolved its police department in 2007 and currently contracts with the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office for law enforcement and prevention services.

Graysville also operates its own Graysville Gas & Water utility, and celebrates the fact by including a natural gas flame and a water tap on its official seal. The gas utility supplies adjoining communities and several Jefferson County Board of Education properties, and reaped $4 million in profits in 2010.

The city, which calls itself "Alabama's Most Progressive Town", hosts an annual "Mayberry Comes to Graysville" festival to celebrate the legacy of television's "Andy Griffith Show".

History

The community was originally known as Gintown after a cotton gin that operated there. It was later renamed for a local family. The post office (35073) was established in 1942.

Until the 1960s, travelers headed northwest from Birmingham on Highway 78 experienced the "Graysville bottleneck" as the four-lane road narrowed to two lanes.

In 2011, Graysville asked the state legislature to allow it to annex more than 2,000 acres in northwest Jefferson County, including land not contiguous with its borders in the unincorporated Rebublic community, which does border Birmingham, Brookside and Adamsville. The proposed area is along Forestdale Bend Road and Cherry Avenue, and would give Graysville a major swath of land alongside I-22. The proposal, opposed by many in the Republic and Watson communities, did not come up for a vote in the 2011 Alabama legislative session.

In 2012, two-term Mayor Doug Brewer was dismissed from his position as supervisor of Graysville's gas and water utility, and soon later agreed to resign from office in the face of accusations of incompetence and abuse of power. He was succeeded by Mayor Pro Tem Mary Sue Morgan.

Demographics

As of the census of 2010, there were 2,344 people residing in the city's 1,066 housing units, for an average household of 2.2 persons. The population density was 127.9/mi², with housing units at an average density of 63.0/mi². The racial makeup of the city was 73.9% White and 23.6% African American. 1.71% of the population was Hispanic or Latino of any race.

In 2000, there were 976 households out of which 24.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.3% were married couples living together, 16.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.6% were non-families. 25.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.40 and the average family size was 2.85.

In the city the population was spread out with 20.9% under the age of 18, 8.2% from 18 to 24, 25.0% from 25 to 44, 25.4% from 45 to 64, and 20.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 86.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.0 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $30,994, and the median income for a family was $35,938. Males had a median income of $30,692 versus $25,446 for females. The per capita income for the city was $16,328. About 8.2% of families and 11.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 16.5% of those under age 18 and 13.2% of those age 65 or over.

The Jefferson County Board of Equalization evaluated 906 homes in Graysville and determined that their average market value for 2007 was $69,651, a 3.9% increase since 2006.

References

• Graysville, Alabama. (April 29, 2007). [1] Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Accessed April 30, 2007.
• Foscue, Virginia O. (1989) Place Names in Alabama. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press. ISBN 081730410X
• Norris, Toraine (March 12, 2011) "Graysville seeks to expand its borders." Birmingham News
• Tomberlin, Michael (August 21, 2011) "A little city with big hopes: Graysville plans for I-22." Birmingham News

External links

• City of Graysville web site