City of Grand Junction

Grand Junction, IA (pop 824) is located in central Iowa 45 miles northwest of the Des Moines Metropolitan Area and 30 miles west of Ames and the ISU campus. Situated at the intersection of Highway 30 and Iowa Highway 144, Grand Junction is on the Historic Lincoln Highway, which makes up the town's Main Street.

Originally built around the intersection of the Chicago Northwestern Railroad and the Keokuk Des Moines lines, Grand Junction grew and prospered as a strategic farm-to-market center with a strong industrial and business base.

In the late 1950s, the highway was re-routed through the northern edge of the city limits, which affected the local economy. Currently Grand Junction is the home of two agricultural and industrial equipment businesses, a convenience store, car dealership, hair salon, and motel in addition to a coffee shop, bar and restaurant, bowling alley, bank, auto repair shop, and seed company.

In 2015 construction began on a new City Hall/Community Center. A $1.2 million investment from contributors including the State of Iowa, Junction Hilltop Wind LLC, local businesses, and generous citizens made our new facility possible. Our Grand Opening on 01/30/2016 was well received.

With local amenities including a swimming pool, library, ball field, sports court, and city park, Grand Junction offers young families and those looking for a quiet rural life a good place to call home.

Our Past

Situated on Lincoln Highway Grand Junction was built and incorporated in 1873. Built at the junction of the Keokuk Des Moines & Chicago Northwestern Railroads, Grand Junction enjoyed a robust economy.

Boasting at one time four grocery stores, a movie theater, ice cream parlor, and several restaurants, Grand Junction was a thriving city.

In 1958 Highway 30 was built to replace the Lincoln Highway bypassing the downtown of Grand Junction. Our once-thriving community was severely impacted by the loss of this major roadway and the decline of our economy took its toll.

Our Present

Today the population of Grand Junction holds steady at 824.

Our city is fortunate to be home a number of businesses and amenities including a bank, bowling alley, restaurant, swimming pool, library, salon, car dealership, Lincoln Highway museum, and three agriculture-related businesses.

Revitalization efforts in our city have begun, and on 01/30/2016 we opened our state-of-the-art City Hall /Community Center.

Thanks to funding provided by a State of Iowa Vision Grant, generous businesses, and concerned citizens, we have a beautiful facility that we anticipate will be a catalyst for change in our town.

Our Future

The mayor and City Council are actively seeking funding and investors to help in the revitalization of our city.

We are currently working on a projects that include installation of new energy-efficient lighting on Main Street, resurfacing of the Main Street district, and a host of other ideas to improve the overall quality of life in Grand Junction.

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