Local city information for South Grafton, MA

Grafton is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 14,894 at the 2000 census. Grafton is known for a Nipmuc village, now known as Hassanamisco Reservation, early settlement, in 1718, and early industrial period, filming of "Ah Wilderness" in its northeast village, once known as New England Village, and the Willard Clock Museum.

Bands of the Nipmuc tribe were the indigenous inhabitants, and maintain a state-recognized reservation known as Hassanamessit, or Hassanamisco, which was formerly a Praying Indian village. Grafton was first settled by Europeans in 1718 and was officially incorporated in 1735. Grafton stands tall in the industrialization of the Blackstone Valley. It Northeast Village was once known as "New England Village". Here is a brief excerpt from the Blackstone Daily:

Grafton has been a significant contributor in the success and progress of the American Industrial Revolution that was started in 1793 by Samuel Slater with his cotton mill in Pawtucket. North Grafton's Upper Mill, now known as the Washington Mills complex that still produces abrasives, was once known as the New England Manufacturing Company. This was part of the New England Village as North Grafton was known for generations. This part of the mill was built in 1826 and was part of a much larger complex, but most of that is now gone, mostly due to serious fires. Mill housing was built at 12, 14 and 16 Overlook Street. These central chimney style homes were boarding houses with ornate trim that has since been lost.

Located in North Grafton is the Wyman Gordon Company. Wyman Gordon installed the largest metal forge in the free world at the time it was built. This forge is used to form strategic metals used in commercial and military aircraft for turbine blades, landing struts and other aircraft parts where light weight and extreme strength are needed. The entire undercarriage of the space shuttles were forged in Grafton, MA. of magnesium.

It is named for the Duke of Grafton, a title created for the illegitimate son of King Charles II of England. Ethan Allen ran a gun factory in Grafton in the early 1800s. In the 1930s, a movie, Ah, Wilderness!, was filmed in the town. The moviemakers built a gazebo for the screenshots and left it on the town common. The gazebo still stands there today. The Grafton Common has historical homes, churches and buildings and is considered the most quintessential common in the Blackstone Valley. The Town today is part of the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor, the oldest industrialized region in the U.S. The Willard Clock Museum, (see external link below), is a highlight.

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