2019 Flood Recovery: Grafton, Illinois

The recovery of Grafton, Illinois, is the latest in a series of posts about how rural communities were impacted and are striving to recover from the floods of 2019.

Most of the posts about the floods of 2019 on Rural Resurrection have been about the communities impacted by the flooding of the Missouri River and its tributaries. Much of that area is in Nebraska and Iowa, my own stomping grounds. However, towns along the Mississippi didn’t fare much better. Davenport, Iowa, is just one example of the communities along the Mississippi that struggled through the floods.

Roots of Grafton

One of the numerous towns impacted along the Mississippi was Grafton, Illinois. Grafton is a community of 673 (2010 census) residents essentially due north of St. Louis. As the Mississippi winds northward from the “Gateway to the West”, it takes a hard left, jogging westward for a little while before turning back north. This bend is also where the Illinois River converges with the Mississippi River as well. Just downstream from this confluence of the two mighty rivers lies Grafton.

Grafton’s proximity to the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers, as well as the Missouri River just a few miles downstream in St. Louis, paid early dividends. Commercial fishing, boat building, and the nearby limestone quarries took advantage of the location. The Old Boatworks in town once made paddle wheelers as well as PT boats.

However, as with many rural communities, the town’s economic base started to fade. Various industries that were at the heart of the local economy chose to close their doors or move out of town.

Evolution to a Tourism-Based Community

Thankfully, Grafton was open to change. In light of the disinvestment over the years, the community knew it couldn’t hold on relying on the hope of rejuvenating the businesses of the past. The community evolved and became more of a tourist destination over time.

Grafton proudly calls itself “The Winter Home of The Bald Eagle.” Between the fall foliage along the river and nearby Pere Marquette State Park, as well as the bald eagle watching opportunities, the town sees quite a bit of traffic in the fall. The summer months are also attractive to tourists with various watersports activities available due to the community’s location along the river.

The town has reinvented itself with restaurants, antique/craft shops, and land-based recreational activities, including a water park and a zip line. There are also two wineries (Aerie’s Winery and the Grafton Winery and Brewhaus) offering unique wines, fine dining, and live entertainment.

Then there’s The Loading Dock, a massive establishment that offers outdoor dining along the edge of the water. But they also offer live music, event space to rent, monthly flea markets, overnight accommodations, and seasonal ice skating.

But that’s just scratching the surface. A Midwest Living article lists off a number of tourist-oriented activities available in Grafton and the neighboring community of Alton.

Floods of 1993

Much like many Midwestern communities, Grafton was impacted by the floods of 1993. The floods did significant damage to many structures. Roughly a third of the population left, never to return.

That’s when FEMA stepped in to provide financial aid and technical assistance to work towards a long-term solution. Through the efforts of FEMA, the State of Illinois, and the community, a plan was set in motion to help the community in its darkest hours. A total of 70 houses, 24 lots, and 17 commercial properties were acquired with FEMA funding and removed from the floodplain. This massive undertaking took $2,320,908 in FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) funds. A total of $773,636 was provided by the Illinois Department of Commerce & Community Affairs that helped with the local match for the federal grant funds.

The funding was applied to the development of residential lots on higher ground, well above the floodplain and the river below. The residents that accepted buyout funding for their flood-ravaged properties were able to rebuild on those lots and stay in the community. Whereas the bought-out properties were converted to open space with a bike path and parkland.

A Return Occurrence

This struggling community was hit again by the waters of the river in 2019. In June, the Mississippi crested at 35.17 feet in Grafton. This was just a few feet lower than the record set during the floods of 1993.

More residents moved out as floodwaters damaged over 50 structures. However, the spring’s floodwaters didn’t recede after a few days. The river was at flood stage for over 120 days.

This aspect was especially impactful for tourist communities like Grafton. With most spring floods, the waters recede within a week or two. This gives many Midwest tourist towns just enough time for cleaning and repairing prior to the busiest months of the summer tourist season. With the length of time that the floodwaters stuck around, the summer tourist season was essentially a complete loss.

2019 Flood of Grafton, Courtesy – Mayor Mike Marrow

Businesses like the Loading Dock were already floodproofed. Although the flood still did some physical damage, the real economic loss was the amount of downtime. Losing 120 operating days during the busiest time of year crushes almost any small business. But it’s not just the businesses that were hurting. Residents who worked at the businesses that were out of operation had to look elsewhere to draw a paycheck.

Making things worse was a decision by FEMA not to reimburse individual residents and businesses for the damage they sustained in the flood. The cities themselves would be reimbursed for a portion of the costs to fight the floods back, but private properties damaged by the flood would not receive financial aid.

An Unexpected Boost

Flood recovery efforts received an unexpected boost from Marcus Lemonis (@marcuslemonis). Lemonis is the CEO of Camping World, a recreational vehicle dealership with over 120 store locations. He also owns a number of other businesses and serves as the host of the CNBC reality show, “The Profit” (@TheProfitCNBC) where he intervenes with struggling businesses to aid them in an economic turnaround.

Interestingly enough, Lemonis has no previous ties to Grafton. No history with the community that would draw him in to help them through the tough times that they have endured. But Lemonis was stunned by the impact of the flooding on the small Illinois town when he and a CNBC crew came upon the community when looking to make a documentary about the Mississippi River.

Lemonis took in the devastation and met with Mayor Eberlin as documented by CNBC:

Building Resiliency

Grafton’s main industry is tourism. Although it has had a number of industries in the past, the residents have realized that tourism is their best bet at long-term survival. Their setting along the Mississippi River and their proximity to St. Louis make them an ideal tourist destination. However, the 120+ days that the flood was at flood stage was during the heart of the tourist season. Business owners were seeing an 80% drop from last year’s sales.

With as flood-prone as the community is, residents and businesses alike need to adjust, to evolve. Before the flood, Grafton was considered an eight-month town. Tourists flocked to the community during the warmer months. But a few of the businesses regularly closed during the winter months. Residents have realized that extending tourist activity into the winter months will be key to long-term resilience.

“We have a robust guest house industry and we encourage people to come out in the wintertime,” states current Mayor of Grafton, Mike Marrow. “We’re looking to get people up here more often than the summertime, but think of it as a year-round place to visit”.

The community already proudly calls itself “The Winter Home of The Bald Eagle”. But business owners have looked elsewhere to draw interest during the colder months. Local restaurant and banquet center The Loading Dock has added an ice rink to spark that interest. Wineries have drawn interest in the off-peak months of the year as well. One of the wineries, Aeries Resort (@aeriesresort), has started the Skytour, which offers chair lift or enclosed gondola rides over the community. Even the Hawg Pit, a local BBQ joint, has added helicopter tours.

The community continues to look toward other ways to draw tourist interest during the colder months.

Bringing Residents Back

However, the community leaders in Grafton aren’t just thinking about commercial businesses. The floods of 1993 caused substantial damage to hundreds of homes in and around this small town. Through FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP), 100 properties in the floodway were purchased from impacted residents. They were turned into greenspace that could no longer be built upon.

By some accounts, four-fifths of the townspeople were displaced. The difference between the 1990 Census and the 2000 census was a drop of 309 residents. But not all the residents that suffered from the floods left. Some moved up the bluff to the east and into a new subdivision called Grafton Hills developed by the City well above flood stage.

The floods of 2019 had a lesser impact on residences. A limited number were still damaged by floodwaters. Some left for good, but others chose to rebuild, even without FEMA assistance.

Now though the City is pushing for more housing development to replace the homes lost between the two floods. Lots in Grafton Hills had been selling for $10-20 thousand each. Although there had been some interest over the years, the lots hadn’t been filling up as quickly as hoped.

But late last fall community leaders devised a plan to spark interest in the development of the remaining lots and to bring more residents back to Grafton. The remaining lots would be sold for $5,000. Then if you buy the lot, you have three years to build a home. Then, once the home is constructed, the City refunds your investment of $5,000.

Since a December 2021 article on the program came out, interest has shot up for the rural community. “Our realtor that deals with that had over 500 calls (and emails) in two weeks,” recalls Mayor Marrow. It wasn’t fleeting interest either, 14 of the 28 lots had been sold in the span of a couple of months. “They’ve been going like hotcakes.”

Grafton Hills Home Under Construction, Courtesy – Mayor Mike Marrow

Aiming to Survive and Thrive

Grafton has overcome numerous flooding events to evolve into a better, more resilient community. Once a sleepy community on the decline, Grafton is now a vibrant tourist hub along the Mississippi River that isn’t afraid of change.

In a St. Louis Post Dispatch article on Lemonis’ visit I found the following line apropos: