The Ghost Town of Grafton (2022)

West of Springdale, Utah, going towards Zion National Park, there is an old abandoned town called Grafton. Founded in 1862, Grafton belonged to a small community of Mormon settlers, coming from what is now Salt Lake City, who were sent on colonizing missions throughout the West to secure territory and resources. The small, quiet town consisted of a schoolhouse/ church, three homes, green pastures, and a cemetery half a mile south of the town. All still remain to this day as a registered historic place. Due to years of bare subsistence on limited acreage and loss of fields from reoccurring floods, many of the families packed everything and moved to more promising land further down the Virgin River. Gradually, more families and residents began to leave as there was not enough folks or sufficient resources to warrant a thriving community anymore. The last resident left in 1945, thus leaving behind the ghost town that is Grafton, Utah.