Evidence of the rich history of Grayson can be found in the names of our schools and on the signs marking our roads, buildings and churches. The names; McConnell, Bennett, Brand, Chandler, Ethridge, Jacobs, Tribble, Cooper, Britt and more, reach out from the past and on into our future. The great grandchildren of our founding fathers remain among us and play vital roles in our current business, worship, politics and social events.

Although it took the foresight of men like James Patterson McConnell, town founder, and John E. Jacobs, Grayson's first mayor to actually establish what has become known as Grayson, our history does not begin there. It was the foresight of others that brought these men to this area where the land upon which we stand became available for settlement.

The rich lands of Gwinnett County, Georgia were home to the Lower Creek and Cherokee Indians many thousands of years before the first European settlers set foot on them. In February 1784 Franklin County, which is now part of Gwinnett, was opened for settlement. A State Legislation Act that fixed the price of land at 3 shillings an acre and limited settlers to 1000 acres maximum opened the area. Land Lotteries and other legislation later governed the distribution. Lands east of the Appalachee River became Gwinnett County in December of 1818. Gwinnett and Walton Counties were surveyed from the natural "Rockbridge" on the Hightower Trail in 1819.

Our Southern part of Gwinnett County, which would later become the city of Grayson, was formed on either end of what is now considered Grayson. The New Hope or Tribble's Mill area and the Haynes Creek or Midway Area were thriving settlements in the early to middle nineteenth century.

The McElvaney family operated Bay Creek post office in their mill. In 1877 Georgia Militia District was created and the Grayson area was named Bay Creek District. There is no doubt it was named for the creek that runs through the district which is lined with native Bay trees. New Hope Methodist Episcopal Church (now New Hope United Methodist) was organized around 1829. Its cemetery is a testament to the nameless pioneers of our area, some graves being marked and some not. The Billue's, Brands, Chandlers, Robinson's, Jacobs, McConnell's, Pratt's, and others are among some of the church's first members.