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Show OMS NO. 1024·0018. NPS Fonn United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section No. §. Page 1 Grafton Historic District, Rockville, Washington County, UT Narrative Statement of Significance Originally settled in the early 1860s and abandoned in 1945, Grafton, Utah, is a unique example of a nineteenthcentury Mormon settlement that, except for natural deterioration, remains largely un.changed from its settlement period. 3 The few remaining buildings have not been architecturally altered,4 and many original fences mark the historic property lines that surround the still-visible fields and irrigation ditches. Electricity, gas, plumbing, and modern amenities were never introduced into Grafton,s and the roads that remain were never paved. Survival in southern Utah was very difficult because of the harsh climate, and mid-nineteenth-century settlements either thrived or failed rather quickly. Unlike most of these small towns, Grafton managed to barely survive the nineteenth century, but it ultimately failed in the mid-twentieth, as technology, growth and changing ideals rendered it obsolete. Early settlements in Washington County that did not succeed were typically abandoned early, leaving few remains; and those that managed to remain viable have been greatly altered over time with population growth and concomitant building renovations, demolitions, new construction, and modern conveniences, such as paved roads and utilities. The Grafton Historic District is a unique snapshot of the early settlement era. The district has a period of significance dating from 1861 to c. 1940s and is significant under Criterion A for both Exploration & Settlement and Agriculture as a depiction of a Mormon Cotton Mission settlement. Mormon settlers were directed or "called" by Brigham Young to leave their homes to the north and move with their families to Southern Utah, or "Dixie," as it was known because of the climate, to establish new settlements and raise cotton and other warm-weather crops. Grafton reflects the settlement pattern of early Mormon communities in the region, and is important as a very rare example of a Mormon settlement whose extant, mostly unoccupied buildings have survived unaltered into the early twenty-first century.6 The settlement of Utah and the Cotton Mission Brigham Young and his followers from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS or Mornlon Church) settled the Utah Territory in 1847. The Mormon migration began with original church leader Joseph Smith in Fayette, New York, and continued across the plains into the Utah Territory after his death in Carthage, Illinois, in 1844. Numerous Mormon towns were established along their way west. Upon arrival in the Salt Lake Valley, Mormon Church leaders immediately called upon many of their members to leave the city and settle as much of the territory as possible in order to claim it as their own. Following the Utah War in 1858 in which the Mormons found themselves pitted against Federal troops (while also involved in localized skirmishes with Native Americans), one of the Church's primary goals was to create a completely self-sufficient society. 7 This was, in part, achieved by a series of economic missions to settle areas that had the 3 This is a revised version of the National Register Historic District draft nomination completed by Polly Hart in 1999. 4 They retain their original form although decayed and deteriorated materials have been repaired or replaced in recent restorations . 5 Several personal histories state that David and Maria Ballard had a telephone in the later years, and this has been confirmed by Vilo Jones DeMille. 6 Three Native American sites have been identified at Grafton . However, these have not been studied to any deg ree and date from before the period of significance. Therefore they will not be included as resources in the district. The Virgin River Basin is rich with cultural resources that pre-date this feriod of significance, and it is possible that more sites exist within this project area . Leonard Arrington , Great Basin Kingdom , pp . 95-6 . |
