Mayfield

History

Mayfield is in the center of the Jackson Purchase, an eight-county region purchased by Isaac Shelby and Andrew Jackson from the Chickasaw people in 1818. Mayfield was established as the county seat of Graves County in 1821, and the county was formally organized in 1823. John Anderson is believed to have been the first white settler, arriving in 1819 and building a log home on Mayfield Creek. In December 1821, Anderson was appointed county court clerk and moved about two and a half miles to the site that became Mayfield. According to Trabue Davis, the town's name originates indirectly from a gambler named Mayfield, who was kidnapped about 1817 at a racetrack near what is now Hickman. He was carried to the site of today's Mayfield, where he carved his name into a tree in hopes that someone would see it. He tried to escape but drowned trying to cross what is now called Mayfield Creek. The town took its name from the creek. The completion of the Memphis, New Orleans, and Northern Railroad in 1858 connected Mayfield with the outside world. Beginning with the founding of the Mayfield Woolen Mills in 1860, manufacturing clothing became the main industry in Mayfield for the next hundred years. The town was also a major market for loose-leaf tobacco, and was part of the Black Patch, where Dark Fired Tobacco was processed. During the Civil War, the Jackson Purchase area, including Mayfield, strongly supported the Confederate cause. It has been called "Kentucky's South Carolina". On May 29, 1861, a group of Southern sympathizers from Kentucky and Tennessee met at the Graves County Courthouse to discuss the possibility of joining the Jackson Purchase to West Tennessee. Most records of the event are lost, probably due to an 1887 fire that destroyed the courthouse. In 1907,…

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which , or 0.43%, is water. Interstate 69 forms a bypass to the northwest of Mayfield, running along or close to the city limits. Access is from Exits 21 through 25. The parkway leads northeast to Interstate 24 near Kentucky Dam, and southwest to Fulton. U.S. Route 45 leads north from Mayfield to Paducah on the Ohio River and southwest to Fulton. Kentucky Route 80 leads southeast to Murray. The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally cool winters. According to the Köppen climate classification system, Mayfield has a humid subtropical climate, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps.

Race & ethnicity

Largest nearby schools

• Graves County High School
  High · Mayfield · 1,096 students · 17.1:1 ratio
• Mayfield Elementary School
  Elementary · Mayfield · 874 students · 15.3:1 ratio
• Graves County Middle School
  Middle · Mayfield · 621 students · 18.3:1 ratio
• Mayfield High School
  High · Mayfield · 537 students · 16.8:1 ratio
• Mayfield Middle School
  Middle · Mayfield · 536 students · 16.8:1 ratio
• Graves County Central Elementary
  Elementary · Mayfield · 484 students · 15.1:1 ratio
• Wingo Elementary School
  Elementary · Wingo · 428 students · 14.3:1 ratio
• Sedalia Elementary School
  Elementary · Mayfield · 364 students · 15.8:1 ratio