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Charles Simmons grew up in Mount Airy, North Carolina, and came to Clarksville by way of Appalachian State University in Boone. In 1972 he put down roots in Southside Virginia, where he spent his first years teaching industrial arts education before turning to the work that would define the next half-century: helping families find and build homes on the water.
He founded Simmons & Associates Realty, Inc. in 1974, then expanded into homebuilding in 1977 with Simmons Construction Company. Decades later, both are still guided by the same hand — and by the same standard: straight answers, honest work, and relationships that outlast any single closing. From his home base in Clarksville, Charles has helped countless families buy, sell, and build across Mecklenburg County and the John H. Kerr Reservoir / Buggs Island Lake area.
Charles has never treated the community as separate from the business. He chairs the Clarksville Economic Development Authority, where he has served for years, and has served on the Southside Planning District Commission. He was a driving force behind the creation of Lakeside Commerce Park — the 265-acre Virginia Lakeside Commerce Park on Highway 58 east of downtown — and he led the effort to restore the Clarksville Fine Arts Center, a 1934 WPA-era schoolhouse transformed into the community's 288-seat theater.
His civic service runs deep and long. He has given decades of service to the Clarksville Lake Country Chamber of Commerce and to the Industrial Development Association (IDA) of Southern Virginia, and he is among the longest-serving members of the Benchmark Community Bank board of directors.
And then there is the theater. For Charles, the stage has been a second home. He has starred in and directed many musical theater productions with the Clarksville Community Players, served many years on the Players' board, and led the organization as its president. Under his leadership, the Players raised more than one million dollars to renovate the Fine Arts Center — a project that began with the 2011 cupola restoration and grew into a full transformation of the historic building. As president, he accepted a $10,000 Dominion Energy Charitable Foundation "ArtStars" grant — one of only five awarded in Virginia — in recognition of the Players' theater-education work with children, young adults, and seniors.
In February 2025, the Virginia House of Delegates passed House Resolution No. 821, commending Simmons & Associates Realty on its 50th anniversary and citing its "decades of contributions to the Clarksville community." The resolution directs that a copy be prepared and presented to Charles Simmons personally. It was introduced by Delegate Tommy Wright.
Today, Charles still works every transaction personally — alongside his wife, Jane, the firm's Office Manager and Rental Manager — exactly as he has since 1974.
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