Local city information for Symsonia, KY

Symsonia is a small unincorporated community in far northeastern Graves County, Kentucky, United States. The community lies 12 miless southeast of Paducah, 11 miles northwest of Benton, and 12 miles north of the county seat Mayfield, in the Jackson Purchase region of the state. It is the second largest community in Graves County and the fastest growing, with approximately 2,500 residents.

The Symsonia community consists of a land area of approximately 16 square miles, extending approximately two miles in each direction east, west, north, and south from the intersection of Kentucky Highways 131 and 348. The intersection contains the community's only four-way stop and only flashing red light. This area of approximately 16 square miles sits at an elevation of 407 feet above sea level and is bordered by the East Fork and the West Fork of the Clarks River, a major tributary to the Tennessee River, sitting at approximately 340 feet above sea level. A large portion of the Clarks River bottom land was purchased by the federal government on a voluntary basis to form the Clarks River National Wildlife Refuge pursuant to an Act of the U.S. Congress in the 1990s. In the early 20th Century, when its roads were not paved, the community acquired the nickname "Slab Town" when wood slabs from local saw mills were used to fill ruts in the muddy roads. The community was formed in the 1820s, and it has slowly grown from a farming community of several families, to a bedroom community of approximately 2,500 people. It is the second largest community in Graves County. The community has a long history of community churches. The Symsonia United Methodist Church was founded in 1912 as Lyles Chapel, on property donated by Pete Lyles. Today, other churches include Clarks River Baptist Church, Symsonia Baptist Church, and nearby Spring Creek Church of Christ (located in Dogwood)and Elva Baptist Church (located in Elva). Symsonia Baptist Church is a Southern Missionary Baptist Church that was formally constituted on August 6, 1995. It is a member of the Blood River Baptist Association, Hardin, Kentucky, and the Kentucky Baptist Convention. The community currently has four active, public cemeteries: Symsonia Cemetery, Clarks River Cemetery, Carter Mill Cemetery, and Bolton Cemetery. The oldest dated tombstones are from the 1860s.

The former Symsonia High School was originally a one-room, wooden building built in 1902, on the same lot where the Symsonia United Methodist Church was later built. The second high school building was built in 1936, and it housed grades 1-12 until county consolidation created Graves County High School in 1986. The Symsonia School continued for grades K-8, until the Graves County Middle School was consolidated in 1998. The Symsonia Elementary School then continued as K-6 grades in the old high school building until 2004, when a new Symsonia Elementary School was built next door and the 77-year old building was razed. Symsonia Elementary School students have consistently excelled in state and national standardized testing. The Symsonia Alumni Association was formed in 1986, Through the leadership of alumnus and former principal Boyd Whitt and his wife and alumna Francette Whitt, the Alumni Association has given scholarships totalling over $25,000 to Symsonia students who graduated from Graves County High School. Symsonia High School had outstanding faculty leadership and student achievement in various national student organizations, including Future Farmers of America (FFA), Future Homemakers of American (FHA), and Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA). Symsonia had seven students recognized as American Farmers, the FFA's highest national award: Carl Thomas McNeill (1954), Randall W. Heath (1971), Jackie Heath (1976), Craig Wayne Mathis (1979), John Timothy Chapman (1980), Richard D. Thompson (1984), and Lawinna McGary (1985).

The school's nickname has always been the Rough Riders. Former principal and boys basketball coach Slayden Douthitt bestowed the name on the school in the 1920s. The high school boys basketball team won the First Region Championship in 1960, and represented the First Region in the Kentucky High School Athletic Association's Sweet Sixteen Tournmant, where the team won one game before losing in the quarterfinals by one point in overtime. Tournament play began with 432 team, and SHS made it to the Final Eight in the entire Commonwealth of Kentucky. In the third game of the first round of the State Tournament held at Memorial Coliseum in Lexington, SHS beat Meade Memorial (15th Region) 69-60. SHS lost in the quarterfinal round 48-47 in overtime to Owensboro (3rd Region). SHS's boys team's last appearance in the First Region Tournament was in 1984 during Head Coach Steve Dreher's 4th and final season at SHS. The Rough Riders lost in the first round to Marshall County 70-44, ending the season with a record of 17-12. SHS's last trip to the First Region Tournament Semi-Finals was in 1977, when they had one of their best teams. SHS beat Fulton City in the first round 80-55, before losing a heart-breaker in the semi-finals to Paducah Tilgham 68-65. The Rough Riders were coached by long-time Head Coach Donald Butler and finished the season with the outstanding record of 26-5. The SHS boys and girls basketball teams had players voted as All Purchase selections a total of 15 times, consisting of 12 different players (10 boys, 2 girls). The players received the end-of-season honors by being selected as one of the top ten players in the First Region (consisting of all high schools in the eight counties in the Jackson Purcahse) by the First Region head cosches in a survey conducted by The Paducah Sun (previously The Paducah Sun-Democrat). Those players included: Becky Rhew (83, 82) Cheryl Upton (82) Tim Allred (’78, ’77, ’76) James Whittemore (’77) Jeff Bean (’72) Freddie Whittemore (’71) Danny Hicks (’68) Harold Hicks (’67) Jerald Ellington (’60) Larry McClure (’58) Joel Ellington (’55) and Clifton McManus (’52).
The town hosts Symsonia Kitchen & Bath, Symsonia Storage, Henson Broom Shop & General Store, Symsonia Car Wash, Rodney's Body Shop, Symsonia Video, Whitt's Garden & Greenhouses, Computer Sales & Consulting, Symsonia Grocery & Hardware, Gary & Virginia's Restaurant, Funeral Director Services, various home and building construction, renovation, and repair businesses, lawn care and landscaping businesses, horse training, dirt and gravel hauling and excavation, a floral, balloon, and gift business, a catering business, a motor home interior detail business, a seamstress, appliance repair, computer consulting and IT management business, a clothing and variety shop, daycare for children, individuals selling cosmetics, persoanal care, and household products, an autombile cleanup and detail shop, an antique store, a sawmill, a mattress manufacturing business and the largest second generation (1970-81) Trans Am parts supplier/restorer in the state.

Formerly, the community included a branch of Liberty Savings Bank, five other restaurants, another grocery and hardware store, several beauty and barber shops, other sawmills, a ready-mix concrete and poured concrete sewer pipe company, two gasoline and mechanic service stations, other automotive mechanic shops, another floral, balloon, and gift business, a catering business, an automotive customized parts store, a roller skating rink, two pool halls, a laundry mat, a dentist's office, a doctor's office, a pharmacy, a law office, a bakery, a horse riding club, a model airplane club, a go-cart track, an electronics and appliance store, an earthworm business, another antique shop, a blacksmith shop, a feed mill, and a used car lot.

The community has a long history of civic involvement. Community leaders, inclduing Butch Heath, Howard Reid, Ulus Johnson, Edward Reid, and Edwin Reid, were instrumental in forming a non-profit corporation to build a medical clinic to attract a doctor to the community in the 1950s. The Symsonia Clinic was dedicated by U.S. Senator and former Vice-President Alben W. Barkley, a native of Graves County. Doctors who served the community through the clinic incldued Dr. Sullivan, Dr. Lockhart, and Dr. Jack Diles. The building was later converted to a mortuary and the former next door pharmacy is a restaurant. The Symsonia Lions Club was very active in the 1960s, and it addition to the Reids, Heath, and Johnson, referenced above, was led by Joel Ellington, Jimmie Ellington, Eddie Heath, and Clinton Goodman. The Symsonia Lions Club purchased property for a community park that is now administered by the Symsonia Park Board, through the Graves County Fiscal Court. The community obtained paved road, electricity, natural gas, city water, city sewer, cable television, and the Symsonia Volunteer Fire Department through many local civic leaders. Former Kentucky State Representative Wayne Freeman grew up on a farm near Symsonia and community resident Howard Reid, also served one term as a Kentucky State Representative. The community has a long history of service by members of Symsonia Lodge No. 917 of the Kentucky Grand Lodge, Free & Accepted Masons and the Symsonia Chapter of the Kentucky Order of the Eastern Star. Symsonia Lodge No. 917 was chartered on October 18, 1922. The Symsonia Post Office was opened in 1847. Today, it serves the Zip Code 42082 and covers approximately 1,000 households.

Category:Unincorporated communities in Kentucky
Category:Graves County, Kentucky List your home on the MLS in Symsonia, Kentucky

Copyright © Owners.com 2012. All Rights Reserved.
Privacy • Terms & Conditions • Site Map

Equal Housing Opportunity