California Junction is located near the southwest corner of Harrison County at coordinates. 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, all of it land.
Demographics
As of the 2010 census, there were 85 people, 32 households, and 26 families residing in the town. The population density was 184.38 people per square mile. There were 34 housing units at an average density of 73.75 per square mile. 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.
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. In 1879, California Junction had a population of 200 people. 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 grain elevator is still operated at California Junction by the United Western Coop. On January 1, 1922, a 1460-foot deep well was drilled at the nearby oil prospect of Hugh R. Coulthard, a prominent landowner, businessman, and farmer from California Junction. 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.
