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History · Grand Junction

Grand Junction dates to 1854, and 23% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1951 on, and the census since 1860.

1854founded
0on the National Register
23%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Grand Junction began, and where its name came from

When was Grand Junction founded?

1854

Grand Junction dates its founding to 1854 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1860.

First census: 311 in 18602020 census: 338172 years

How did Grand Junction get its name?

Grand Junction was named after the "Grand Junction" of the Memphis and Charleston Railroad and the Mississippi Central Railroad.

Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1855. Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.The full story ↓

What stands out about Grand Junction’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 560 in 1940; 338 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Grand Junction’s homes were built before 1961.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Grand Junction’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Grand Junction’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewMain Street scene: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Grand Junction, census by census

0100200300400500600190019502000Peak: 560

Peaked at 560 in 1940; 338 people lived here in 2020.

16 censuses, 1860–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Grand Junction’s Wikipedia page.

The story

How Grand Junction came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Grand Junction.

Read it all →

Grand Junction was founded in 1858. It was named after the "Grand Junction" of the Memphis and Charleston Railroad and the Mississippi Central Railroad. The town was a railroad town, with its own newspaper, two saloons, three hotels, a livery stable, and other businesses. During the Civil War, the Union Army held the city for approximately three years. Also during the Civil War General U.S. Grant established a “Contraband Camp” of thousands of former enslaved people, providing shelter, education etc. prior to the Emancipation Proclamation.

In 1878 a yellow fever epidemic struck the town and killed more than half of the 150 residents. The town was incorporated in 1901.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Grand Junction, 1854 to 1962

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1854
    FoundingGrand Junction is established
  3. 1855Post officeThe Grand Junction post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1940In the archiveMain Street scene
  6. 1940CensusPopulation peaks at 560
  7. 1951On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1962Born hereBobby Parks is born here
By decade

Grand Junction, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1940s1 item
Main Street scene1940Main Street scene
1950s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
On the map

Grand Junction on the map, 1951 to 1980

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Grand Junction. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Grand Junction on the 1951 USGS mapGrand Junction on the 1980 USGS map1951Grand Junction sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Grand Junction.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Main Street scene
Retake this viewMain Street scene, 1940

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Grand Junction’s page.

Retake this view · +15

Questions about Grand Junction’s history

What year was Grand Junction founded?

In 1854, according to Wikidata. Grand Junction’s post office opened in 1855, and the census of 1860 counted 311 people here.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.