Tuesday 12 July 2011

Grafton Ghost Town

Grafton, is off SR9 in Rockville it signposted, it’s a paved road so far, leading over an iron bridge taking a sharp right, then winding through the canyons, before dividing, turning left to head over Smithsonian Butte and right for Grafton.   Not long after the turning the road turns to dirt, which according to the sign is impassable when wet.

 
Grafton is on the National Register of Historic Places and is owned by the Grafton Heritage Partnership Project www.graftonheritage.org   The graves in the cemetery all have flowers on them and some of them state that they were killed by Indians in 1866.

The town was founded by members of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints who originally grew cotton, until they discovered that they needed all the available land to grow food.   The original townsite was flooded out in January 1862 and moved to the existing site later that year.   The wood for the town was hauled 75 miles from Mount Trumbull and the clay to make the adobe for the school house was gathered from west of the town.

All that remains of the town today are a few remains, the Adobe School house come church,

the Alonzo H Russell Home,


which is being restored and has a cellar, while I peeked through the door, I didn’t venture inside.


the Louisa Russell Home


the John Wood Home


There are a couple of other buildings remaining, but they are marked as private property.


Grafton has appeared in several movies one of which was Butch Cassidy, the sequence with Paul Newman and Katherine Ross on the bike while ‘Raindrops keep falling on my head’ provides the background music was filmed there.
  
It’s an idyllic spot on a lovely summer afternoon, but back then it must’ve been a tough place to live.

Have fun, we are! 

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