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Grand Junction| Town and administrative headquarters of Mesa County, west Colorado; population (2000) 42,000. It is situated at the confluence of the Colorado (originally called the Grand) and Gunnison rivers, in Grand Valley, 48 km/30 mi east of the Utah state border. Grand Junction is a shipping point for surrounding farms, which produce grains, sugar beets, fruits, and vegetables, and for local oil, natural gas, vanadium, and gilsonite. Since the 1950s, uranium production has been important to the regional economy. The city also manufactures electronics and cans fruits and vegetables. It is home to Mesa College (1925). The Colorado National Monument is 16 km/10 mi to the west. |
| The original settlement was christened Ute in commemoration of the natives removed to Utah in 1880 just before white settlement began. Its importance as a distribution centre began with the arrival of the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad in 1887. |
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