Grand Junction, Colorado | |
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Home Rule Municipality | |
City of Grand Junction | |
Location in Mesa County and the State of Colorado |
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Location in the United States | |
Coordinates: 39°04′N 108°34′W / 39.067°N 108.567°WCoordinates: 39°04′N 108°34′W / 39.067°N 108.567°W | |
Country | United States |
State | Colorado |
County | Mesa |
Incorporated | July 22, 1882 |
Named for | Confluence of Grand River and Gunnison River |
Government | |
• Type | Home Rule Municipality |
• Mayor | Phyllis Norris since May 6, 2015 |
• City Manager | Tim Moore since June 24, 2015 |
Area | |
• Home Rule Municipality | 38.6 sq mi (100.0 km2) |
• Land | 38.2 sq mi (99.0 km2) |
• Water | 0.4 sq mi (1.0 km2) |
• Metro | 3,341.11 sq mi (8,653 km2) |
Elevation | 4,593 ft (1,397 m) |
Population (2012 estimate) | |
• Home Rule Municipality | 59,899 |
• Density | 1,600/sq mi (600/km2) |
• Metro | 147,083 |
• Metro density | 44/sq mi (17/km2) |
Time zone | MST (UTC-7) |
• Summer (DST) | MDT (UTC-6) |
ZIP codes | 81501-81507 |
Area code(s) | 970 |
GNIS feature ID | 0204662 |
Highways | I-70, U.S. Highway 6 , U.S. Highway 50 , CO SH 340, CO SH 141, CO SH 139 |
Website | City of Grand Junction |
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The city of Grand Junction is the home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Mesa County, Colorado, United States. The city has a council–manager form of government, and is the most populous municipality in all of western Colorado. Grand Junction is situated 247 miles (398 km) west-southwest of the Colorado State Capitol in Denver. As of the 2010 census, the population of the city was 58,566. Grand Junction is the 15th most populous city in the state of Colorado and the most populous city on the Colorado Western Slope. Grand Junction serves as a major commercial and transportation hub within the large area between the Green River and the Continental Divide. It is the principal city of the Grand Junction Metropolitan Statistical Area which had a population of 146,723 in 2010 census.
The city is located along the Colorado River, at its confluence with the Gunnison River which comes in from the south. The name "Grand" refers to the historical Grand River; it was renamed as the Upper Colorado River in 1921. The word "Junction" refers to the confluence of the Colorado and Gunnison rivers. Grand Junction has been nicknamed "River City". The city is located near the midpoint of a 30-mile (48 km) arcing valley, known as the Grand Valley; since the late 19th century it has been a major fruit-growing region. Historically the valley was long occupied by the Ute people and by earlier indigenous cultures. It was not settled by white European-American farmers until the 1880s. Since the late 20th century, several wineries have been established in the area.