Grafton Island

Grafton Island, also known locally as the Ghost Point, is one of the two main islands of the Elizabeth Islands.

It is the biggest of the Elizabeth Islands, and has no permanent inhabitants. The old capital was Windsor Town, located on the eastern tip of the island.

Etymology
The name Grafton was given to the isle when Sir Peter Grafton first sighted the island. The island's commonly called Ghost Point, due to its abandonment.

Abandoning
The Elizabeth Islands were the last British islands that were annexed by Australia. In 1953, the phosphate mines of the islands started to close, and lots of workers had to leave the islands with their families and settle in the West Ring Islands. In 1956, the last mine of Coffs and Grafton closed, and one year later, the island registered 0 inhabitants. In 1958, United Kingdom had lost all of their interest on building plantations or military bases in the islands, and therefore sold the archipelago to Australia.

Geography
The island has a regular shape. It is the flattest island of the Elizabeth Islands. Its closest islands arde Coffs Island and Little Grafton Island, an atoll that lies off its south coast.

Settlement
There were three settlements registered on the islands: Dead Cow Town, Windsor Town and Blowing Point.

Dead Cow Town was located on the west point of the island. It had 19 inhabitants, most of them were workers at the Scarlet Mines, one of the two most important phosphate mines of the archipelago.

Windsor Town was located on the east point of the island. It had a bridge that connected it with Grafton. It had 82 inhabitants, and most of them worked in Coffs Island or in the small seaport of the island, fishing, as both of the principal phosphate mines were too far from the settlement.

Blowing Point was situated in the center of the island. It had 42 inhabitants. It closed in 1946 due to a polio outbreak that lasted 9 years. The town's workers worked at the Warebourough Mines until its closing in 1954. In early 2019, the Wareborough Mines re-opened, though the town is still uninhabited.