Grafton: Floods, Faith, and the Ghosts of Utah’s Dixie

Grafton, Utah — today it’s one of the most photographed ghost towns in the West. But in the mid to late 1800s, it was a community clinging to the banks of the Virgin River, where floods, fears and faith tested every family who lived there. From the Marvelous Flood Tenney’s unforgettable birth to the tragedies in the cemetery, to the violence of the Black Hawk War and the final blow of the Hurricane Canal, this episode dives into the stories settlers and their descendants passed down. Alongside them are the Southern Paiute families who were here first — guides, friends, protectors, and sometimes adversaries. This is the story of Grafton: not just a ghost town, but a place where joy, grief, and resilience left a lasting mark on southern Utah history.