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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)
  • Urbandale
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Waukee
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Johnston
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Altoona
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Clive
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • 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 (so far) for Valley Junction was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<4>

From that list, the Valley Junction post office opened in 1871. The Valley Junction post office closed in 1938.

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>A copy of the Blevins & Helbock Post Office list with background information can be found at:

      https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/