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Grafton is a village in northern Fillmore County, platted in 1874 as one of three towns -- along with Exeter and Fairmont -- named in alphabetical sequence by the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad as it built its line westward. Grafton's name is thought to honor Grafton, Massachusetts, though sources describe the connection as likely rather than definitively documented. With a 2020 population of just 107, Grafton is one of the smallest and least-documented towns in the county; no significant notable residents or landmarks turned up in available historical records. It remains, like several of its neighbors, a small agricultural community shaped primarily by the railroad that founded it.
Grafton's history is thinner in the historical record than some of its Fillmore County neighbors, but its place within the alphabetically-named string of railroad towns -- Exeter, Fairmont, Grafton -- is a clear, documented piece of the county's settlement pattern.