The town of Grafton was a very small and primitive pioneer settlement which centered on logging and farming, with logging the dominant industry. There was a post office, but no real stores. There was no church but in the summer, ministers came occasionally from Upton or Newry for services in the schoolhouse, and there were occasional evangelical "missionaries" to the men in the lumber camps.
Like many communities in the Northern Forest, the town of Grafton rose and fell with the lumber industry. As the supply of quality timber diminished, the population of the town dwindled, and Grafton became unincorporated.
As residents of Grafton left the town, the Brown Paper Company purchased nearly all of the abandoned farms. Houses and barns were demolished as a forest fire precaution, and trees were planted to reclaim the surrounding fields and pastures. The spruce, fir, and hardwood trees that now occupy the former town of Grafton have again reached a size suitable for harvesting. Today it is hard to find traces, even cellar holes, of the homes that were once there because of years of bulldozing, road construction, timber cutting, and reforesting activities.
FINAL STAGE: N 44° 36.aa0 W 070° 56.bbb
aa: How many years did the town of Grafton exist?
bbb: What year did the town of Grafton incorporate (use the last 3 digits of the year)?