| Official Name: | California Junction, Iowa |
| Settlement Type: | Census-designated place |
| Pushpin Map: | Iowa#USA |
| Pushpin Label: | California Junction |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Type1: | State |
| Subdivision Type2: | County |
| Subdivision Name2: | Harrison |
| Subdivision Type3: | Township |
| Subdivision Name3: | Cincinnati |
| Established Title: | Founded |
| Established Date: | September 9, 1880 |
| Founder: | Missouri Valley Land Company |
| Unit Pref: | Imperial |
| Area Footnotes: | [1] |
| Area Total Km2: | 1.19 |
| Area Land Km2: | 1.19 |
| Area Water Km2: | 0.00 |
| Area Total Sq Mi: | 0.46 |
| Area Land Sq Mi: | 0.46 |
| Area Water Sq Mi: | 0.00 |
| Population As Of: | 2020 |
| Population Total: | 74 |
| Population Density Km2: | 62.04 |
| Population Density Sq Mi: | 160.52 |
| Timezone: | Central (CST) |
| Utc Offset: | -6 |
| Timezone Dst: | CDT |
| Utc Offset Dst: | -5 |
| Elevation Ft: | 1007 |
| Coordinates: | 41.5603°N -95.9947°W |
| Postal Code Type: | ZIP code |
| Postal Code: | 51555 |
| Area Code: | 712 |
| Blank Name: | FIPS code |
| Blank Info: | 19-09910 |
| Blank1 Name: | GNIS feature ID |
| Blank1 Info: | 2583481 |
California Junction is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Harrison County, Iowa, United States. It lies just east of the junction between the east–west and north–south lines of the former Sioux City and Pacific Railroad. In the 2010 census[2] it had a population of 85 inhabitants and a population density of 184.38/mi2.
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 4miles to Interstate 29 on the outskirts of Missouri Valley and west 7miles 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.[3]
As of the 2010 census, there were 85 people, 32 households, and 26 families residing in the town. The population density was 184.38sp=usNaNsp=us. There were 34 housing units at an average density of 73.75sp=usNaNsp=us. The racial makeup of the town was 98.82% White and 1.18% from two or more races. Of the total population, 4.7% were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
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.[4] 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.[5] [6] In 1883, the name of the town was changed to "California" to avoid confusion with Columbia Junction; it retained this name as of 1915.
In 1879, California Junction had a population of 200 people; the population was 76 in 1902.[7] In 1903, the California Grain and Lumber Company was organized in California Junction.[8] By 1915, there was also a town hall, high school, general store, blacksmith shop, post office, two churches, and a train station.[8]
On January 1, 1922, a 1460-foot deep well was drilled at the nearby oil prospect of Hugh R. Coulthard,[9] [10] a prominent landowner, businessman, and farmer from California Junction.[8] No oil was obtained from the site, but the capped well leaks water to this day. A marshy area surrounding the well remains as a local landmark, which is visible about 160 yards north of town on Fremont Ave., about 30 yards west of the roadway.[11]
In 1925, California Junction's population was 84.[12] The population was 100 in 1940.[13]
A grain elevator is still operated at California Junction by the United Western Coop.[14]
The community of California Junction and the surrounding rural area educational needs are met by the Missouri Valley Community School District.
. J.S. Morton . Watkins, A. . Miller, G. L. . Illustrated History of Nebraska: A History of Nebraska from the Earliest Explorations of the Trans-Mississippi Region, with Steel Engravings, Photogravures, Copper Plates, Maps, and Tables . 1913 . J. North . 446 .