Grafton History

The buildings and features of Grafton have exceptional value in illustrating and interpreting the heritage of this community and are tangible reminders of people, events and ideas that have shaped its history. A list of historic features is as follows:

School House - 1886

Perhaps the most photographed ghost town historic structure in the Western U.S., is this rustic adobe building that stands in front of the massive tan and red walls of Zion National Park. The subject of countless movies, paintings and photographs, the building's hand-made beauty adds a note of human gracefulness to the outstanding natural beauty that surrounds it.

Grafton's first settlers built the schoolhouse in 1886. The 2-story walls stand on a solid foundation of lava rocks quarried from the nearby hillside; its colored adobe bricks were hand-made from a pit of clay on the west end of town. The settlers cut trees for this structure from Mount Trumbull, nearly 75 miles away, and bought them across the Arizona Strip and down the steep canyon cliffs of the wood road near the cemetery.

The town's people used this building as a school, community meeting place, church as well as a place for dances and plays. People would come from all the settlements on the Upper Virgin River to attend the community dances, which were held on weekends. As was customary with dances in the early west, they continued early into the morning, sometimes until dawn. Then people would hitch up their wagons, buggies or horses and head back to their homes for Saturday chores and Sunday preparations. The last classes were taught in this building during the 1918-19 school year at which time the enrollment had dwindled to nine students. The following year students were transferred to the school at Rockville.

According to Lyman D. and Karen Platt's book Grafton, Ghost Town on the Rio Virgin, Mary Beth Woods recalled: "The cowboys liked to come to dances too. They worked out there at Canaan at a big cattle ranch. The Bar Z Company was from Deseret, Milford and all over up north. They were out there at Canaan and Cane Beds so they come into Grafton for the dances and social life. Oh, they loved Grafton. They could always sing and dance. Oh, it was really a pleasure to have those guys come."

A former resident of Grafton -Lu Wayne Wood- born in Grafton 1911 shares a few words:

"The Grafton school/church building was built in 1886 by the dedicated people in this small town to meet their need for a school and church building and to use for social events. It shows what cooperation and togetherness can accomplish through donated labor and material. I think it is symbolic in a larger sense of the faith, determination and perseverance of those who came and built. Integrity was basic to all of their works and actions."

Russell Home - 1861

(2001 Photo)

Standing next to the School House is the Russell home. In 1861, Alonzo Habenton Russell came to Grafton and built this adobe-walled home. The home has a beautiful restored hand-crafted front porch where Alonzo's family often met to socialize, sing and listen to the music of his guitar. Alonzo Russell had his own band called the Russell Band and played the drums. He was a blacksmith by trade and supplied the town with eating utensils and farm tools, in addition to repairing broken wagon parts, sharpening plows and shoeing horses. Because the Indians would try to steal the cattle he would make hobbles on the cattle that the Indians couldn't undo.

Alonzo lived in the home until he died in 1910, at the age of eighty-nine and is buried in the Grafton Cemetery. Alonzo's son Frank, brought the house for $200 and a cow.
Frank Stephen Russell and Mary Ellen Ballard Russell moved into the house in 1917 and lived in the home until they moved to St. George in 1944 the last residents to leave Grafton.

John Wood Home - 1877

John Wood, Ellen Smith Wood and their children John Jr., George Henry and Emily lived in Grafton. John was a farmer, raised cattle, worked in a blacksmith shop, made beautiful horse hair ropes and hackamores in his spare time. An historic split rail fence surrounds the property. Ellen died on May 7, 1898. John lived in Grafton until 1909 and died in Hurricane August 4, 1911 at the age of 92.

The property also has two other buildings, a large log barn (1877) and a raised one room log granary (1877).

Ballard Home - 1907

David and Maria Ballard built this home and barn around 1907. David was born at Grafton in 1867 to John Harvey and Charlotte Ballard. Maria was born in Rockville. Like most of other residents of Grafton, David worked as a cattle rancher. Cattle raising had become Grafton's principal industry decades earlier because of the difficulty and unpredictability of growing crops. Electricity, plumbing and other modern utilities were never introduced into Grafton homes. David died in 1939.

The Louisa Foster Russell Home -1879

Alonzo and his first wife Nancy returned to Grafton in 1868, however his third wife Louisa remained in Rockville, giving birth to three more children while there. Between 1873 & 1879 Alonzo built this one story, gabled log home for Louisa Maria. In 1879 she returned to Grafton and their six children were raised in this home. Louisa Maria owned one of the first weaving looms in Grafton, having brought it from New Hampshire.

The Wood Road -1890's

Named for its purpose, the Wood Road was built in 1890 and used by the pioneers to haul large timbers from both the Mt. Trumbull sawmill some seventy-fives miles away in Arizona and the Grafton Mesa above town. The road follows a deep arroyo from the Grafton cemetery and then follows switchbacks up the mountainside. Excavated in the rocky hillside, the wagon trail is further fortified by numerous rock retaining walls, many of which are located on steep unstable drainage paths. A substantial wall near the mesa is engineered with both wood and rock and remains in very good condition more than one hundred years after it was built. Mr. Wood said, "The road was so steep in places that the descending wagon had to rough locked by use of log chains and a large tree attached behind the wagon as a drag to secure the safety of negotiation of the road".

The Wood Road is part of the proposed "Grafton Historic District".

Grafton Cemetery

(1862-1924)

The Berry headstone found within the wood fenced enclosure near the center of the cemetery reminds us of a time when there wasn’t enough to go around. When the Utah Territory was settled, the upper Virgin River was already inhabited by native Southern Paiute peoples. Pioneers often settled the same places required by these native people for their subsistence. This competition for land and scarce resources led to conflict.

At the same time, Navajo people living south of the Colorado River were squeezed between pioneer settlement in Arizona to the south and Utah to the north. In December 1865, Navajo raiders stole cattle and horses from Kanab and the Shirts ranch at Paria. In January 1866, two ranchers were killed at Pipe Spring and their cattle stolen. Consequently, the Mormon militia killed Indians near Pipe Springs and in retaliation the Indians killed the Berrys, who were traveling home to Berryville (now Glendale on Highway 89), near Colorado City. At the time, Grafton was the County Seat, and their bodies were brought to Grafton for burial. During this time, Mormon Church leader Brigham Young ordered villages in southern Utah to coalesce into towns of at least 150 men. Grafton and other Virgin River towns were deserted as townsfolk consolidated in Rockville. Grafton farmers returned daily to tend their fields, and by 1868, Grafton was resettled and the residents were back, working to create the future.

In the four years after Grafton’s founding in 1862, death came in its usual manner, taking the young, the sick, the old:

Mary Lavina Andrus died at one year of age; Mary Jane York, 28, died of tuberculosis, Byron Lee Bybee, 65, died of “poor health.” And there were accidents: Joseph C. Field, 9, was dragged to death by a horse.

But when the year 1866 hit, the settlers must have wondered if their Heavenly Father had abandoned them. Thirteen people died in rapid succession, taken by epidemics, a tragic accident and by the friction caused when new folks rub up against old. Many headstones are missing. It’s believed 74 to 84 graves exist. The Grafton Cemetery also includes Southern Paiute people who were loved and respected by Grafton residents

The Hard Year of 1866

D AT E, NAME, A G E, C A U S E OF D E AT H

January 18, 1866 John William York 10 years Diphtheria

January 25, 1866 Asa Uriah York 3 years Diphtheria

January 25, 1866 James Jasper York 5 years Diphtheria

February 9, 1866 Frances Ann Field 7 years Diphtheria (Daughter)

February 9, 1866 Sarah Ann Brook Field 37 years Diphtheria (Mother)

February 1866 Sarah Ellen Field 5 years Diphtheria (Daughter)

February 15, 1866 Loretta A. Russell 14 years Accident—Swing Broke

February 15,1866 Elizabeth H. Woodbury 13 years Accident—Swing Broke

April 2, 1866 Robert M. Berry 24 years Killed by Indians (Brother of Joseph)

April 2, 1866 Isabella Hales Berry 20 years Killed by Indians (Robert’s Wife)

April 2, 1866 Joseph S. Berry 22 years Killed by Indians (Brother of Robert)

August 4, 1866 George Judson Andrus 1 year Scarlet Fever

September 1, 1866 Medora Andrus 6 months Scarlet Fever

1866 Else Marie Bybee 45 years Unknown

Robert Madison Berry, 24, his wife Mary Isabella Hales Berry, 20, and brother Joseph Smith Berry, 22, were killed by Navajo raiders.

Today, the cemetery is an historical monument that provides a unique opportunity for area visitors to learn about early pioneer settlement and Grafton's human history. It serves as a cultural legacy to the many families who are descendents of Grafton settlers.

The cemetery is included as a contributing feature to the proposed "Grafton Historic District". The Grafton Heritage Partnership (Partnership) entered into a cooperative management agreement with the Bureau of Land Management so that the Partnership can manage the site. The agreement would allow the Partnership to improve existing site conditions by replacing the existing fence surrounding the cemetery with like-kind materials, repair the wood headstone enclosure, install interpretive signage that includes pioneer and Southern Paiute history.

Dates when people were buried

Names of people in the cemetery

Agricultural Landscape

Agriculture-the most useful, the most healthful, the most noble employment of man. I know of no pursuit in which more important service can be rendered to any country by improving its agriculture. -Attributed to George Washington, c 1790

Agriculture played an important part of Grafton's history. The settlers had to live off the land to survive. They built dams across the river and diverted water for cotton and other staple crops. They planted orchards and by 1855 the fruits were used fresh, dried and as preserves. A variety of nut trees were planted making pecans, black walnuts and almonds available. Some of these fruit and nut trees are still alive and producing.

As the years progressed, raising of cattle and other animals became an increasingly important occupation for the early settlers. Nearly every family had at least a few head. Shortly after 1865 they started to change from farming to cattle raising. The harvest in 1866 was from 21 acres of wheat, 45 acres of corn, 18 acres of cotton and 8 acres of sugar cane.

By about 1874, silk production had become common in Grafton. However, as with cotton, silk production lasted only a few years. The settlers were more concerned with growing food crops and were often too busy recovering from floods to concentrate on silk and cotton production.

The Partnership is working with the other landowners in Grafton in order to conserve this agricultural, scenic and historical heritage.

A visit to Grafton wouldn't be complete without a visit to the Virgin River that forms the Townsite's northern boundary. Pioneers raised garden crops on the few acres of sandy river-deposited soil next to Grafton. Today, these soils support an impressive gallery of trees, plant and wildlife species, including one of only a handful of remaining stands of cottonwood trees anywhere along the Virgin River.

The Partnership is interested in helping manage the floodplain for native plant communities. This will include removing the exotic tamarisk and Russian olive trees and restoring the natural cottonwood, willow, and grass communities.

A restored floodplain with native plants presents an opportunity to interpret Grafton's natural history, especially as it relates to the town's human history. It was the river that both gave life to and drove away Grafton's residents.