A week ago Grafton was just another sleepy country town, best known for its jacaranda-lined streets that spectacularly blossom every spring.
Now it will be forever linked to the hate-filled massacre of 50 men, women and children during Friday prayers at two mosques in Christchurch by one of its own.
Brenton Tarrant, accused of being Australia's worst mass killer, grew up in the northern NSW town as a member of one of its founding families.
The 28-year-old left town after his father's death in 2010 to travel the world, only returning twice a year to visit his family, most recently for Christmas and his sister's birthday.
As his rampage was streamed live in horrifying graphic detail around the world, dozens of old school friends and family members stared in disbelief.
Picture perfect: Grafton, largely known for its jacaranda-lined streets, has suddenly been thrust into the spotlight after a former resident, Brenton Tarrant, was accused of gunning down 50 people in a hate-filled massacre in New Zealand
Fight back: Townsfolk are determined to protect Grafton's hard-earned reputation as a laid-back, friendly place to live
His mother Sharon was pulled out of the English class she taught at nearby Maclean High School and she and Tarrant's sister Lauren were whisked away by police.
Grafton was suddenly thrust into the international spotlight with millions yearning to know how a chubby kid from a good family could grow up to commit such an unspeakeable crime.
But no one from his family to classmates, rugby league teammates, gym buddies, or former employers had any answers.
Instead locals reacted with a mixture of shock, shame, anger, defiance and compassion as they sought to make sense of their sudden infamy.
Community spirit: Local business owner Jeff Smith says townsfolk are deeply affected but are getting through the tragedy by 'acknowledging he didn't learn that stuff here'
'He does not represent us': A sign at a training college on the road into South Grafton sums up the feeling of defiance many residents share
Compassion: Caitlin Cain, 23, says she feels sorry for Tarrant's family, who are longtime residents of Grafton
'There's a collective guilt we are all feeling,' Jeff Smith, owner of Grafton dessert cafe institution I Scream, told Daily Mail Australia.
'People are wondering if there were any signs they missed but there was nothing. 'We are getting through it by acknowledging he didn't learn that stuff here, he's left and come into contact with some insane, macabre thinking. He was from here but not of here.'
Tarrant's family, from his grandmother who remembered him as a 'good boy' more interested in computers then girls, to his 'bewildered' mother, tell a similar tale.
'He wasn't raised to be a racist, none of us made him this way. It certainly didn't come from his family or friends here,' his cousin Donna Cox said.
Even on his visits to Grafton just months ago he never displayed any signs of extremist thinking, even as he was plotting mass murder since 2017.
'It's like he was living a double life,' family said. But even the most resilient locals admit the town will never be the same.
A TOWN KICKED JUST WHEN IT WAS JUST GETTING UP
Other than its jacarandas, Grafton is also known for the Cold Chisel song Flame Trees, an autobiographical account of pianist Don Walker returning to his home town.
The mournful song gives a depressing account of the sleepy town: 'There's no change, there's no pace, everything within its place.'
Locals admit the characterisation has largely been accurate. Grafton struggles with high youth unemployment, suicide rates, and drug use.
The economy was hit hard by the closure of big employers like the brewery and Peters ice cream plant, and bankrupt dairy farms.
Grafton still doesn't have a single set of traffic lights and in the 1980s locals were even resistant to the roundabouts that now dot its main streets.
Tough times: Grafton has been hit hard by the closure of several big employers, although the economy is improving. The town still doesn't have a single set of traffic lights
Former resident: Accused terrorist Brenton Tarrant was born and bred in Grafton and the family has a long association with the district
However, things were finally on the upswing with investment thrown at the town and surrounding Clarence Valley resulting in a population jump in the past decade to about 22,200.
Mayor Jim Simmons said government infrastructure projects were bringing in workers from around the country and new houses were springing up for them to live in.
New projects included three new bridges over the Clarence River to better connect the area, the Pacific Highway upgrade, and a new jail that will be the biggest in Australia housing 1,700 inmates.
Money was also being thrown at Grafton Base Hospital, where most of the handful of muslims living in the town work as doctors after fleeing their homelands.
Mayor Simmons said people were moving from overcrowded cities like Sydney, Brisbane and the Gold Coast for a relaxed lifestyle and cheaper real estate.
Mr Smith said Grafton was a 'tired old place' when he arrived 28 years ago, and he was saddened that Tarrant's alleged crimes could derail its renewal.
'There's a bit of excitement about the future, finally, and then this happens out of nowhere. Of all the towns, it had to be us,' he said.
A FOUNDING FAMILY TAINTED
The Tarrant family is synonymous with Grafton and the wider Clarence Valley with dozens of members still living there.
They were one of the first settlers to the area in the mid to late 1800s and even have a bridge named after them about 10km out of town towards Lawrence, where Brenton's mother now lives.
Since then the family has split off into numerous branches and sub-branches, many of whom
