[1] The county was named for John Graham, a captain in the Civil War who died during the Battle of Chickamauga.

The county is home to Nicodemus, founded in 1877, which is the only remaining western town established by African Americans during the Reconstruction period following the Civil War.

For many millennia, the Great Plains of North America was inhabited by nomadic Native Americans.

In 1802, Spain returned most of the land to France, but keeping title to about 7,500 square miles.

In 1803, most of the land for modern day Kansas was acquired by the United States from France as part of the 828,000 square mile Louisiana Purchase for 2.83 cents per acre.

[15] † means a community is designated a Census-Designated Place (CDP) by the United States Census Bureau.

Noted regional artist Birger Sandzén frequently painted landscapes in Graham County, where his wife's parents moved in 1906.

[16] Examples include Still Water currently profiled in the collection at Kansas State University's Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art which depicts Wild Horse Creek in the county.