Incorporated in 1735, the town is home to a Nipmuc village known as Hassanamisco Reservation, the Willard House and Clock Museum, Community Harvest Project, and the Tufts University Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine.

The following is an excerpt from the Blackstone Daily about the history of the town: 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 [Rhode Island].

The moviemakers built a bandstand on the town common, which has been torn down and rebuilt many times since, making it similar but different.

[citation needed] The town is part of the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor, the oldest industrialized region in the U.S. North Grafton is the home of the Wyman Gordon Company.

In 1955, the United States Air Force installed a 50,000-ton metal forge in North Grafton as part of its Heavy Press Program[6] in a plant operated by Wyman-Gordon.

The campus was made up of several clusters of buildings and eventually encompassed 1,200 acres (490 ha) in Grafton, Shrewsbury, and Westborough.

[8] The hospital was closed in 1973, and the campus, including many of the original buildings, was taken over by the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine (part of Tufts University) and the Grafton Job Corps center.

One hundred ninety acres of the Hassanamessit Woods, believed to contain the remains of the praying village were under agreement for development for more than 100 homes.

This property has significant cultural importance to the Nipmuc Tribal Nation because it is thought to contain the meetinghouse and the center of the old praying village.

These properties will provide numerous recreational benefits to the public as well as play a role in protecting the water quality of local watersheds.

The town borders on Shrewsbury, Westborough, Upton, Northbridge, Sutton, Millbury and the city of Worcester.

[23] The Worcester Regional Transit Authority operates public bus service in Grafton.

[24] The Grafton Senior Center provides low-cost or free transportation to residents who are over the age of 60 or disabled.