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Description
Grafton Utah, October 17th, 2022.

The John Wood Home built in 1877. It is about 15 yards off the main road on private property.

Yet another photo of the most photographed ghost town in the nation.

Grafton was founded in 1862 by five families that had originally started a settlement named Wheeler in 1859. But Wheeler was destroyed in 1862 by a week long flood of the Virgin River. In 1864 there were 28 families in Grafton. That seems like the peak of the town’s population. Growing crops alongside of the unpredictable Virgin River was too great of a challenge and many soon moved away.

Records show that the local school ceased classes after 1918-1919 school year. In 1920 there were only three families remaining. The last residents of Grafton, Frank Russell, and his wife, Ellen, moved away in 1944.

When I was looking around the place there were at least four houses, a church/schoolhouse and a handful of other buildings, of which two might have once been houses.

Over the years there have been at least seven movies with scenes shot at this location, the most famous of which was Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. There was also the 1935 film “Desert Mesa” (which was reissued in 1941 as "Mormon Conquest"); the 1928 film “In Old Arizona”; the 1930 film “The Arizona Kid”; the 1947 film “Ramrod”; the 1981 made for TV movie “Child Bride of Short Creek”; and the 1984 film “The Red Fury”.

Description
Grafton Utah, October 17th, 2022.

The John Wood Home built in 1877. It is about 15 yards off the main road on private property.

Yet another photo of the most photographed ghost town in the nation.

Grafton was founded in 1862 by five families that had originally started a settlement named Wheeler in 1859. But Wheeler was destroyed in 1862 by a week long flood of the Virgin River. In 1864 there were 28 families in Grafton. That seems like the peak of the town’s population. Growing crops alongside of the unpredictable Virgin River was too great of a challenge and many soon moved away.

Records show that the local school ceased classes after 1918-1919 school year. In 1920 there were only three families remaining. The last residents of Grafton, Frank Russell, and his wife, Ellen, moved away in 1944.

When I was looking around the place there were at least four houses, a church/schoolhouse and a handful of other buildings, of which two might have once been houses.

Over the years there have been at least seven movies with scenes shot at this location, the most famous of which was Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. There was also the 1935 film “Desert Mesa” (which was reissued in 1941 as "Mormon Conquest"); the 1928 film “In Old Arizona”; the 1930 film “The Arizona Kid”; the 1947 film “Ramrod”; the 1981 made for TV movie “Child Bride of Short Creek”; and the 1984 film “The Red Fury”.