Grayrock

Grayrock (originally Gray Rock), on Interstate Highway 30 six miles southeast of Mount Vernon in eastern Franklin County, was one of the earliest settlements in the county. The post office established there in 1848 was only the second office established in what would become Franklin County. In 1884 the community had an estimated population of fifty. By 1896 its population was estimated at 150, and it had a church and two schools, one for White children and one for Black. Its school for White children had one full-time and one part-time teacher and served a district with a scholastic population of sixty. The school for Black children, one of only five such schools in the county, had one full-time teacher and served a scholastic population of twenty-five. The community's post office was closed in 1906. During the 1930s Grayrock had a cemetery, several houses, and a store just east of the county line in Titus County. By 1985 only the cemetery and widely scattered houses remained in the area.