Welcome to Valley Junction ...
Valley Junction is located in Polk County<1>.
While we don't have a date for the founding of Valley Junction, you might consider that their post office opened in 1871.
A typical abbreviation for Valley Junction: Valley Jct. (or less commonly used: Valley Jctn.)
Valley Junction is 810 feet [247 m] above sea level.<2>.
Time Zone: Valley Junction lies in the Central Time Zone (CST/CDT) and observes daylight saving time
Area Code for Valley Junction: 515
Communities Also Named Valley Junction ...
Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 11 communities that are also named Valley Junction - they are located in Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, North Dakota, Ohio (2), Oregon, Pennsylvania (2), Texas and Wisconsin.
For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Valley Junction.
Communities near Valley Junction ...
We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Valley Junction.
- Des Moines
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Ankeny
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- West Des Moines
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Des Moines have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Des Moines
- West Des Moines is located in Polk County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 69,057 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for West Des Moines <3>
- Urbandale
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Urbandale have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Urbandale
- Urbandale is located in Polk County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 44,650 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Urbandale <3>
- Waukee
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Johnston
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Johnston have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnston
- Johnston is located in Polk County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 23,092 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Johnston <3>
- Altoona
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Altoona have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Altoona
- Altoona is located in Polk County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 19,503 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Altoona <3>
- Clive
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clive have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clive
- Clive is located in Polk County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 17,444 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Clive <3>
- Indianola
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Grimes
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.
We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Valley Junction. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Valley Junction.
Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Valley Junction. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Valley Junction.
We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Valley Junction. See our Newspapers Page for Valley Junction.
TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Valley Junction ...
Looking for more information about Valley Junction? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.
While we are unaware of a Tourism page that is specific to Valley Junction, there are neighboring communities that do have Tourism pages. A map of those communities can be found with our TripAdvisor Page for Valley Junction.
Adding Valley Junction to Our Gazetteer ...
We originally found mention of Valley Junction in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.
From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Valley Junction was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<5>
From that list, the Valley Junction post office opened in 1871.
We also found Valley Junction in the book titled Business Atlas and Shippers' Guide (1895).
For more details, see References and Mentions for Valley Junction.
Footnotes ...
| <1> | If you're interested in how the shape of Iowa's counties, including Polk, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries. |
| <2> | The elevation is an estimate for the area around Valley Junction - it will be higher in some places and lower in others. |
| <3> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <4> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <5> | A copy of their list with background information can be found at:
https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/ |