World Art Utopia

Grafton — Washington County, Utah

The red adobe schoolhouse with a white bell tower in Grafton, Utah, with an adobe house and red cliffs behind it
Artwork FileGrafton, Utah

Grafton

SeenApr 2026

Grafton townsite, near Rockville, Washington County, Utah

Photo: Carol M. Highsmith / Library of Congress (public domain), as published on Street Art Utopia.

Grafton is a pioneer farming settlement on the Virgin River just south of Zion National Park in Washington County, Utah. Settled in 1859 as part of the push to grow cotton in southern Utah, it was rebuilt on higher ground after a flood in January 1862 and was later abandoned. Its 1886 adobe schoolhouse and a handful of restored homes still stand. Source Source Source Source Source Checked

Seen April 2026: a Wikimedia Commons photo dated 26 April 2026 shows the restored schoolhouse and the Alonzo Russell house standing, and a May 2025 Islands travel feature says many of Grafton’s structures are open for visitors to enter. Source Source Checked

More photos

Black-and-white 1929 view across the wide, washed-out bed of the Virgin River toward the farm village of Grafton beneath cliffs and clouds
1929 The village across the Virgin River, with washed-out banksPhoto: George A. Grant / Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
Grafton's adobe schoolhouse with its bell tower and the two-story Alonzo Russell house under a cloudy sky, with the red peaks of Zion behind
2026 Schoolhouse and Alonzo Russell house under the Zion peaksPhoto: Christian David / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

💡 5 things to know

  1. Settled for cottonIn 1859 Nathan Tenney led a small group of families from nearby Virgin to found Grafton, part of the Latter-day Saint effort to grow cotton in southern Utah’s “Dixie”. Source Source Source Source Checked
  2. Washed away, then movedA flood in January 1862 destroyed most of the first townsite and the settlers rebuilt upstream: about a mile away according to the Grafton Heritage Partnership, St. George News and Wikipedia, 1½ miles according to HistoryNet. Source Source Source Source Conflicting
  3. Peak, then the first abandonmentGrafton reached 168 people in 1864. In 1866, during conflict with Native peoples, its residents were moved to Rockville; families began returning in 1868. Source Source Source Checked
  4. A schoolhouse from 1886Residents built the adobe schoolhouse in 1886 with lumber hauled 75 miles from Mount Trumbull; it also served as the church and meeting place. Source Source Source Checked
  5. Hollywood’s ghost townGrafton appears in Westerns including In Old Arizona and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid; the schoolhouse and the Alonzo Russell home are in the backdrop of that film’s bicycle scene. Source Source Source Source Checked

📍 Where it is

Grafton stands on the south bank of the Virgin River near Rockville in Washington County, off State Route 9 between Virgin and Rockville, just south of Zion National Park. Source Source Source Checked

Open in Maps

Opens the coordinates Wikipedia gives for Grafton (from the USGS Geographic Names Information System); the pin marks the townsite, not the schoolhouse itself.

🗓️ Sightings

  1. 18628 Jan

    Virgin River flood; the town is moved · HistoryNet

  2. 1886

    Adobe schoolhouse built · Grafton Heritage Partnership

  3. 19296 Sep

    The village across the Virgin River · NPS photo, camera date

  4. 1997

    Grafton Heritage Partnership formally established · St. George News

  5. 201513 Dec

    Schoolhouse renovated, Russell Home roof restored · KSL

  6. 202525 May

    Many structures open to visitors · Islands

  7. 202626 Apr

    Schoolhouse and Russell house standing · Commons photo, camera date

Amber stamps mark records or reports; green stamps are dated photos. Publication dates are not camera dates.

🗞️ In the sources

Grafton Heritage PartnershipUndated page

History & Settlement

“In 1886 Grafton residents hauled lumber 75 miles from Mount Trumbull and gathered clay from a pit west of town to construct the adobe schoolhouse, which still stands at the heart of Grafton.”

Read the source →

HistoryNet16 May 2018

Ghost Town: Grafton, Utah

“In 1864 Grafton reached its largest population of 168 souls.”

Read the source →

Islands25 May 2025

Utah’s Once-Thriving Settlement Just Outside Of Zion Is An Abandoned Ghost Town With Cinematic Notoriety

“Many structures are open, allowing visitors to enter and explore exhibits inside, particularly the Ruby Rose cabin, the Louisa Marie Russell Home, and the Alonzo Russell Home.”

Read the source →

✅ The facts

Place
Grafton, Washington County, Utah Source Source Source Checked
Founder
Nathan Tenney, with families from Virgin Source Source Source Checked
Flood
January 1862 (January 8 in HistoryNet and Wikipedia) Source Source Source Source Checked
Moved
About 1 mile upstream (Grafton Heritage Partnership, St. George News, Wikipedia) vs 1½ miles (HistoryNet) Source Source Source Source Conflicting
Peak
168 people in 1864 Source Source Checked
Schoolhouse
Adobe, 1886; also used as church and meeting place Source Source Source Checked
Owner
Washington County owns the schoolhouse Source Reported
Last residents
1944 (HistoryNet, Wikipedia, St. George News) vs 1945 (KSL) Source Source Source Source Conflicting
Preservation
Grafton Heritage Partnership: formed 1997 (St. George News, Wikipedia, Islands) vs 1996 (KSL) Source Source Source Source Conflicting
Films
In Old Arizona; Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) Source Source Source Source Checked
Visiting
No admission fee and no services on site Source Reported
Status
Schoolhouse and Russell house standing in a photo dated 26 April 2026 Source Source Checked

🔗 Related

All sources & image credits

Last checked: 8 November 2026 · How we verify art