California Junction

History

The town of California Junction traces its origins to the Yazoo post office and the ill-fated towns of Cincinnati and Parrish City, which were founded in Cincinnati township during the later half of the 1850s. Yazoo Landing was a ferry crossing on the Missouri River where the Blair Bridge now stands. The present settlement was established in 1880, after the Sioux City and Pacific Railroad was built. John I. Blair, the railroad tycoon, believed that this would be an important hub for passengers heading west, and gave the town its current name. In 1883, the name of the town was changed to "California" to avoid confusion with Columbia Junction; it retained this name as of 1915. the population was 76 in 1902. In 1903, the California Grain and Lumber Company was organized in California Junction. By 1915, there was also a town hall, high school, general store, blacksmith shop, post office, two churches, and a train station. a prominent landowner, businessman, and farmer from California Junction. In 1925, California Junction's population was 84. The population was 100 in 1940. A grain elevator is still operated at California Junction by the United Western Coop.

Geography

California Junction is located near the southwest corner of Harrison County. The community is northeast of the Iowa–Nebraska border, which in this area follows the center of De Soto Lake, an abandoned channel of the Missouri River. U.S. Route 30 passes just south of California Junction, leading east to Interstate 29 on the outskirts of Missouri Valley and west to Blair, Nebraska. According to the United States Census Bureau, California Junction has a total area of 0.461 square miles (1.19 km), all of it land.

Race & ethnicity