After graduating high school, he had a series of manufacturing jobs before gaining employment in 1912 as a master craftsman and metalsmith at the Roycroft Community in East Aurora, New York.

Roycroft was renowned for its craftsmanship of furnishings, fixtures, and other architectural pieces that were very popular during the Arts and Crafts Movement in the early 20th century.

It is unclear if Grant brought a camera with him to the park or located one after his arrival, but he began taking photographs and teaching himself how to process and print film.

During that time, he maintained a steady correspondence with Horace Albright seeking an opportunity to return to the National Park Service.

In early 1929, Albright succeeded Park Service Director Stephen Mather who was gravely ill, and Hall located outside funding to support a photography position for 18 months.

With those two pieces in place, George Grant was hired as the Park Service's first staff photographer in April, 1929, and was based at the NPS Educational Division headquarters at the University of California Berkeley.

Among these were trips to the Great Smoky Mountains (1931), along the route of the planned Natchez Trace Parkway (1934), to southern Arizona and Sonora, Mexico (1935), to the Big Bend of Texas (1936), and to the North Cascades of Washington (1937).

Because of their significance to NPS history, Grant's images have been included in the National Park Service Historic Photograph Collection.