[3] The suburb is characterised by its many historic buildings, many of them essentially unchanged from the early decades of the 20th century.

[6] St Peter's College is a state-integrated Catholic boys' secondary (years 7–13) school with a roll of 1,296 as of November 2024.

[10][11] During the late 1840s Chief Pōtatau Te Wherowhero resided in the Auckland Domain in a house provided for him by the Government, this house was located north of the Domain Ponds, between the Hospital and the southern entrance of what is now called Centennial Walk.

The early settler Outhwaite family resided in their Grafton house for nearly eighty five years.

Noted aviator Jean Batten stayed with her brother when he lived in Seafield View road during the 1930s (house demolished around 2006).

The painter Max Gimblett's family lived in Grafton in the 1940s and ran the shop on the corner of Carlton Gore and Seafield View Roads.