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Grafton, Iowa

7 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Union Township. It lies in ZIP code area 50440. The Survey maps it on the Grafton quadrangle. 216 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,230 feet above sea level.

Grafton within Worth County

On record in Grafton

Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.

On the National Register 1 record

Population over time

2 figures

Grafton fell from 252 to 216 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.

YearPeople Change
2010252
2020216-36 (-14%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

5 surveys from 7 printed sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

Fires near this place

2 since 2006

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 2 fires within 5 miles of Grafton between 2006 and 2009, burning about 30 acres in total. None started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Missing data/not specified/undetermined2

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
21 April 2009Missing data/not specified/undetermined30 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
7 October 2006Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Worth County

Mines and quarries near this place

6 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 6 workings within 5 miles of Grafton: 3 past producers, 2 producers, 1 unknown. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Crushed/Broken. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Shell Rock QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Stevens QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
UnknownSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
UnknownSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
UnknownSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
Wilde QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer

Every working recorded in Worth County

Storms near this place

47 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Grafton in 47 storm reports between 1994 and 2025: 18 heavy rain, 12 hail, 10 thunderstorm wind, 5 flash flood. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
April 2022Tornado (EF1)Grafton$50,000Tornado developed south of Highway 9 and west of Warbler Avenue and moved northeast. The tornado encountered a farmstead on the south side of Highway 9 producing EF1 damage to trees and an outbuilding. The tornado continued northeast and remained in rural farmland the rest of its path.
July 2011Flash FloodGrafton$50,000A handful of areas with a foot of water flowing over roads through the town of Grafton.
July 2011Flash FloodGrafton$10,000Ulmus Ave between 400th and 410th closed due to high water.
September 2011Thunderstorm WindGrafton$5,000Spotter estimated winds over 50 MPH. Several 2 to 3 inch diameter branches were blown down throughout Grafton. An 8 inch and 12 inch diameter tree were both reported down just north of town with power reported out.
July 2008Thunderstorm WindGrafton$5,000Numerous large tree limbs down of greater than 6 inches in diameter.
May 2000HailGrafton$5,000no account filed
July 1994HailGrafton$5,000no account filed
April 2001Thunderstorm WindGrafton$3,000no account filed
April 2001Thunderstorm WindGrafton$3,000no account filed
May 2015Thunderstorm WindGrafton$2,000Minor tree branch damage was reported.
May 2013HailGrafton$2,000This was the third wave of nickel to quarter size hail that moved through the area.
May 2013HailGrafton$2,000no account filed
May 2013HailGrafton$1,000no account filed
June 2008HailGrafton$1,000no account filed
June 2004HailGrafton$1,000no account filed
September 2025HailGrafton-Delayed report, time estimated by radar.
July 2025Thunderstorm WindGrafton-Personal weather station reported gust.
June 2024Heavy RainGrafton-Mesonet reported 2.68 inches of rain.
April 2022HailGrafton-Trained spotter reported quarter sized hail.
May 2022Thunderstorm WindGrafton-Personal weather station measured a 59 mph wind gust.
August 2022Heavy RainGrafton-CoCoRaHS station in Grafton reported a 24 hour rain total of 3.30 inches.
August 2022Heavy RainGrafton-A 24 hour rainfall total of 4.01 inches.
August 2021Heavy RainGrafton-A rainfall report of 5.83 inches since midnight.
August 2021Flash FloodGrafton-Water was several inches deep flowing over Yarrow Avenue near the intersection of 410th Street.
August 2021Flash FloodGrafton-Water two to three feet deep flowing up to the road on south end of town as well as approaching a residence. Three to six inches of water flowing over road. Report via social media courtesy of KAAL TV.
August 2021Flash FloodGrafton-Water several inches deep flowing over the road near the intersection of Ulmus Avenue and 410th Street east of Kensett.
August 2021Heavy RainGrafton-A 24 hour rainfall total of 4.21 inches.
August 2021Heavy RainGrafton-A 24 hour rainfall total of 3.62 inches.
August 2021Heavy RainGrafton-A 24 hour rainfall of 2.19 inches.
May 2020Heavy RainGrafton-CoCoRaHS report of 2.03 inches of rain. Beginning and end time roughly estimated from radar.
June 2020Heavy RainGrafton-Trained spotter measured 1.9 inches of rain. Beginning time estimated by radar. Rain ongoing at observation time.
June 2020Heavy RainGrafton-CoCoRaHS observer recorded 2.78 inches of rainfall over the last 24 hours.
June 2020Heavy RainGrafton-CoCoRaHS observer reported a 24 hour rainfall total of 2.38 inches.
June 2020Heavy RainGrafton-Public report via social media of 2.38 inches of rain as a 24 hour total.
June 2018Heavy RainGrafton-Public recorded heavy rainfall of 2.34 inches from a home weather station.
June 2018Heavy RainGrafton-Public reported heavy rainfall of 3.18 inches.
May 2017Thunderstorm WindGrafton-Trained spotter measured a 71 mph wind gust at their home.
April 2017HailGrafton-Trained storm spotter reported mostly quarter sized hail with a couple of stones measuring up to an inch and a half.
June 2017Thunderstorm WindGrafton-Trained spotter reported a 69 mph wind gust recorded from a home weather station.
July 2016Thunderstorm WindGrafton-Home weather station measured wind gust of 68 mph.
May 2016HailGrafton-Trained spotter reported penny to quarter sized hail at their residence.
August 2016Heavy RainGrafton-Trained spotter reported heavy rainfall of 3.88 inches since early Tue evening.
June 2013Heavy RainGrafton-Rainfall of 2.84 inches in the past few hours in Grafton.
July 2011Heavy RainGrafton-Rainfall since 1530 CST was 4.32 inches.
July 2011Heavy RainGrafton-Total rainfall of 5.28 inches since rain began at 1530 CST.
May 2000HailGrafton-no account filed
June 1996Funnel CloudGrafton-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Worth County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Bolan3.9 miles7
Glade4.9 miles7
Manly7.6 miles7
Kensett7.7 miles7
Meltonville8.4 miles7
Northwood11.3 miles7
Deer Creek12.1 miles7
Hanlontown16.8 miles7

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikipedia article on GraftonAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q1913657The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 457012. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.