Grafton

History

The first Europeans to visit the area were the Jesuit missionaries Claude-Jean Allouez and Claude Bablon, who visited a Native American village on the Milwaukee River near the future site of Grafton around 1670. Timothy Wooden, who arrived in 1839 from the eastern United States, is considered Grafton's first permanent white resident. The majority of the early residents were immigrants from Germany and Ireland. In the early 1840s, the village was called Hamburg, because Jacob Eichler, one of the village founders, was an immigrant from Hamburg, Germany. A post office for "Hamburgh" was established in 1844. The Wisconsin territorial legislature officially created the town of Grafton in 1846. The village of Grafton was officially incorporated from some of the town's land on March 30, 1896. The village's early settlers utilized the Milwaukee River as a source of power for milling. In 1846, a group farmers built the Grafton Flour Mill. In 1880, the owner of Cedarburg's woolen mill opened a mill in Grafton to make worsted yarn. At its height, Grafton's woolen mill employed 100 people. Grafton was also the site of the Milwaukee Falls Lime Company, which quarried limestone in the village and operated lime kilns to manufacture slaked lime. The kilns are preserved in Grafton's Lime Kiln Park, on the west bank of the Milwaukee River. Lime production played an important part in the village economy until the 1920s. Music was originally recorded in Chicago, until the Paramount headquarters and studio moved to the Grafton factory in 1929. Artists including Charley Patton, Son House, Willie Brown, and Louise Johnson journeyed from the American South to record in Grafton. The studio stopped recording music in 1932, due to the Great Depression, and Paramount Records closed in 1935…

Geography

Grafton is located at (43.317904, −87.954113). According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of , of which is land and is water. The village is bordered by the City of Cedarburg and the Town of Cedarburg to the west and by the Town of Grafton to the north, east, and south. The village is located in the Southeastern Wisconsin glacial till plains that were created by the Wisconsin glaciation during the most recent ice age. The soil in area is a mixture of well-draining material, loess, and loam, which all overlie a layer of glacial till. The village contains 40-foot high Silurian dolomite outcrops in Lime Kiln Park, which were used for quarrying in the 19th century and have since been used for geological studies. The Milwaukee River flows south through downtown Grafton. Early industry utilized the river by constructing three dams for mechanical hydropower: one at the Grafton Flour Mill and Badger Worsted Mill, another at the Wisconsin Chair Company factory, and a third near the Milwaukee Falls Lime Company's lime kilns in present-day Lime Kiln Park. The chair factory and lime kiln dams have since been removed. As land development continues to reduce wild areas, wildlife is forced into closer proximity with human communities like Grafton. Large mammals, including white-tailed deer, coyotes, and red foxes can be seen within the village limits. Many birds, including great blue herons and wild turkeys are found in and around the village. The Bratt Woods nature preserve is a habitat for the American gromwell, a State-designated special concern plant species.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  23,505
• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  23,055
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  21,329
• American Goldfinch

  Spinus tristis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  20,951
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  19,822
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  19,748
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  17,323
• Downy Woodpecker

  Dryobates pubescens (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  16,698

Largest nearby schools

• Homestead High
  High · Mequon · 1,265 students · 17.3:1 ratio
• Cedarburg High
  High · Cedarburg · 1,089 students · 16.5:1 ratio
• Port Washington High
  High · Port Washington · 814 students · 16:1 ratio
• Thomas Jefferson Middle
  Middle · Port Washington · 717 students · 13:1 ratio
• Grafton High
  High · Grafton · 715 students · 15.9:1 ratio
• Webster Middle
  Middle · Cedarburg · 645 students · 14.7:1 ratio
• Wilson Elementary
  Elementary · Mequon · 563 students · 14.8:1 ratio
• Thorson Elementary
  Elementary · Cedarburg · 548 students · 15.7:1 ratio