Nils Monson was a 29-year-old bachelor who walked to the area from Winnipeg in the fall of 1878 to homestead.

[9] The city was named for Grafton County, New Hampshire, the native home of a large share of its early settlers.

[10] The Grafton State School, a home for the developmentally disabled, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

[11] The city employs a mayor-council government where the mayor is elected for a four-year term and eight city council members are elected to staggered four-year terms.

There were 1,990 housing units at an average density of 585.3 inhabitants per square mile (226.0/km2).

35.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

There were 2,005 housing units at an average density of 225.0 inhabitants per square mile (86.9/km2).

The top 6 ancestry groups in the city are Norwegian (39.4%), German (19.8%), French (8.9%), Polish (8.7%), Czech (8.3%), Irish (7.4%).

33.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 16.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

North Valley Career and Technology Center is a multi-district regional technology education center, serving students grades 9–12 from across the region.