At the confluence of the Mississippi and Illinois rivers, Grafton emerged as a major river town whose location first drew prehistoric civilizations and Native American tribes, then in the early 1800s attracted development under James Mason, who bought the land, established ferry crossings to conduct business with St. Louis, and in 1833 joined Silas Hamilton to incorporate the Grafton Manufacturing Company. After James Mason and Hamilton died in 1834, Mason's brother Paris and his widow Sarah surveyed, platted, and incorporated the city in 1837, and Sarah named it for James's birthplace, Grafton, Massachusetts. As river commerce expanded, Grafton developed varied industries, including boat construction in the 1850s, limestone quarrying for homes, buildings, and St. Louis landmarks such as the Old Cathedral and Eads Bridge, and a large fresh water port on the Mississippi stocked with carp, buffalo, and catfish. By 1900 its busy riverfront economy had declined, many businesses had closed, and Main Street had become a mix of commercial and residential buildings, but the city later reemerged as a tourist destination tied to the rivers, seasonal scenery, recreation, festivals, and bird migration along the Mississippi Flyway. Grafton also endured repeated flooding, with catastrophic damage in 1844, a record river height in 1973, and its worst destruction in the Great Flood of 1993, after which residents rebuilt and erected a lighthouse, envisioned by Larry Wright and funded by a local committee, as a symbol of remembrance, resilience, and determination.