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Show OMS No. 1024·0018 , NPS Form United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section No. Z Page 1 Narrutive Description / Grafton Historic District, Rockville, Washington County, UT -, 01 ' erview (~"{,'lq\~ , he Grafton Historic District encompasses the entire~ov¥n site of Grafton, Utah, settled in late 1861 and abandoned in 1945. 1 Contributing cultural and natural resources include residences, outbuildings, a schoolhouse/meeting house, foundations, fields and orchards, roads, fences, and a system of irrigation ditches . r ~g and rE~walls. ~ ~ (-!!,q o~ ~\~1 (P{~~!"",,:i-~4(et:-) uJ~cX ~ 9~ ~ ~~O~~~~~~~l Grafton is a small, abandoned Mormon settlement nestled along the Virgin River, approximately two miles from the southern border of Zion National Park in southern Utah, and two miles west of downtown Rockville, and \ now incorporated within the Rockville boundaries. Grafton is located one mile up the river from the original \town site ("Old Grafton") that was settled in 1859 and abandoned in January of 1862, as the result of ~estru ction by recurring floods of the nearby Virgin River. This farming hamlet sits to the south and west of the '\(irgin River below steep rugged sand~tone cliffs that are ~~c~ssed th~ ~~h maze of d~ep(')arroyos (dry river bees) ~ --(~ gec:..-\tO\A ~I)..A. ~ ~v: ~~ ~ j ~~ foe ~~ "- 1 - r.e~ (~di..£ clc~--~ C7~ ~ ~r~~~~~~~~~~~L~~~ o-f v ~~~y~ t clL' . (Ie.. . ~ ~6.P~} ~~v-±~~~ J f'~0~ ~~) Two types bf architectural resources can be identified in Grafton: historic buildings and historic foundations. Five principal buildings (Photos 1-5) and five o\JtbuildinQs. (Photos 6-10). still stand inside the district boundaries and include the following: ~\\-e:~'/ ~0UAU ~\M."t.b~\.L:'()l,,~\A . L .~~l\l.wLP ({e.<;.fW•.....x )~~<7{~~ev.(~~~,\A..., ~~. • 'Io() \l.J!CXC' ~-3\ ~ l The adobe schoolhouse / meeting house (Photo #1) is a front-gabled single roomA,c . 1886 structure. It was renovated in 2000 by replacing damaged adobe and replacing the windows, doors, roof and bell tower. At that time an interior wood frame support was added for stability, plaster on the walls and ceiling was repaired, and the non-historic wood floor was sanded. / () 6<f,,~ ~ c'-lQ..X • The Alonzo H. and Nancy Russell House is a c. 1862 one-and-a-half story side-gabled residence of be construction (Photo #2) with a~ r me front porch and a shed-roofedtfear addition. The double- ~: '7 I floor plan was a grand house wi symmetrical fac;ade and cornice returns at the gable ends. " e foundation was repointed, stone r set, etc. in 2001. Exterior stucco from the movie set era was • removed in 2003, exposing the adobe ricks. New doors, windows and hardware were installed. An interior staircase, two interior fireplaces, associated chimneys, the front porch and the rear shed-foofed addition were reconstructed. Most work was completed in 2004. )/l"?c...uM ~~~ ~~ ~~ ~ • The side-gabled single-story Louisa Maria Russell House was built c. 1879 of log construction (Photo #3) with adobe brick in the gable ends. A door and an adjacent window pierce the north-facing fac;ade . There is a frame board and batten rear shed-roofed addition . In 1999 the exterior logs were rechinked, The shed-roofed board-and-batt!3n shed to the south was rebuilt in 1999 replacing c. 40% of historic building fabric . ~~ ~ ~~~ ~ ~ ~ \MM.J? 1 This is a revised version of the National Register Historic District draft nomination completed by Polly Hart in 1999. |
