What’s up everybody?
I will have to admit, I think that cabin fever might be setting in. Our weather has had a mind of its own. One day it is sunny and decent and other days its been cold and snowy. When the opportunity for for a weekend trip to Utah’s Dixie came up, we took it. We loaded the car and was on our way to St. George. The temperature for Southern Utah, during the winter, is usually mild and sunny. St George becomes a hot bed for those that seek to escape Northern Utahs colder winters. Do to this, there are plenty of option for adventure seekers. The big one of course in Zion National Park.
This was not going to be a site seeing trip for us though. No, the main purpose was to visit my grandparent and Erin’s aunt. We haven’t seen them in quite sometime. It was good to visit with them and see that they are doing well. Whenever someone has become more mature, you start to worry about their health. Everything was good and thats what really matters.
You probably noticed a word in one of the paragraphs that doesn’t really seem to fit. Dixie. What does Utah have to do with Dixie? Isn’t that part of the South? I’ve often wondered this myself. I mean it is plastered on everything down in St. George. Come to find out, it is a direct reference to the South. More specifically the growing of cotton and other cash crops. With one obvious exception, which I wont get into here. When members of the LDS Church settled the area they discovered that the temperature was ideal for growing cotton. Unfortunately, the crops never really grew to well. This brings us to this weeks adventure, the ghost town of Grafton.
Around the late 1859, early 1860 a group of settlers settled the town of Wheeler to aid in the production of cotton. The town was located on the banks of the Virgin River, which would be their downfall. In 1862 the “Great Flood” hit the town, destroying homes and farmland. To prevent this from happening again, the townsfolk moved up the river and more inland from the river. This new town would know as Grafton. Grafton quickly grew and prospered but that would not last long. The unpredictable nature of the river continued to be an issue. Flooding and drought, along with other problems, eventually forced the townspeople to abandon Grafton. It fell into obscurity until a movie executive purchased the land as a filming location. Several films where shot here. The most notable being Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid starring Robert Redford and Paul Newman. After sometime it would once again fall into obscurity.
Now a days this once bustling little town sits quite, with the exception of the tourist that come to visit. Fortunately, a new life is being breathed into it. The Grafton Heritage Partnership was put together to restore and protect the site. The Partnerships efforts have not gone unnoticed as the restoration of the structures are bringing them back to their glory. Several homes still stand along with a few other buildings. Many of them you can walk through. The School House is locked up but placards have been placed in the windows, which tells you about the many uses that the school house was used for.
The school house is an impressive building but the home next to it was more impressive. The Alonzo H. Russell Home. I don’t ever remember being able to enter this house before, maybe the restore crew forgot to lock the door behind them. This was the first time that I had a chance to really get a good look at the inside of the house. The Russell house is the largest of the homes remaining. It has two floors with several divided rooms. This may seem fairly common for us now, but at the time it must have seemed like, what we would consider, a luxury home. Especially when looking at the other houses that remain. Mostly a single floor with two maybe three rooms total. It did have a creepy old root cellar that the restore crew left material in that upped the creep factor. At its prime the Russell Home, I would guess, would rival even todays modern homes. It remained occupied until 1945 when the final resident decided to pick up and moved to St. George.
Looking at the old buildings is cool but I think we often overlook just how hard it really was trying to build a community in those early days. There is a place in Grafton that is a somber reminder of this. Just up the road from the main part of town sits Grafton Cemetery. Death came in many forms for the townspeople. Disease, natural causes, old age, accidents, and conflicts with other people. All these things plagued the citizens. Death had no prejudice either, not only did it effect the old but the very young as well. The plaque in front of the cemetery recounts the terrible year of 1866. “Thirteen people died in rapid succession, taken by epidemics, a tragic accident and by friction caused when new folks rub up against the old.” It also states that there is 74 to 84 people buried in the cemetery. For the most part they are humbly marked with headstones made of stone or wood and some with just a rock. There are a few that are missing the marker altogether. I don’t know if it is do to the restoration project or from the families of the deceased but newer headstones are being placed in the cemetery. A nice gesture to remind us of the people that came out here to settled the area and try to build a life for themselves out of the hardships of the West.
If you are ever on your way to Zion National Park, make sure you take a few minutes to visit the ghost town of Grafton. It is located about five miles from the South Entrance of Zion. I will say this, if you do decide to go make sure you really look for the signs that point you in the right direction. They are small and easy to miss. I even knew were to turn and ended up passing it. I had to find a place to turn around.
All in all, Grafton is a fun little place to visit. It is full of history and a good reminder of the people that came before us. I know that I keep saying that but it goes to show you that life wasn’t always easy out here in the west. It took a lot of guts and grit to make it what it is today. Grafton may be a ghost town now but it was once a thriving community.
Until next time. Thanks for stopping by!
Josh
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