Happy Birthday Junction City!

Junction City’s 150th Celebration

Junction City is celebrating it’s 150 birthday on September 15-18, 2022! Junction City began it’s history as a small town in hopes of a future railroad junction. Even though the railroad did not come into Junction City, it continued to thrive. In 1891 James A. Bushnell built a block long hotel on Front and 7th Street which included an opera house. That building block burned down in 1915 but you can still see many historic buildings in the Junction City downtown area. In 1961 the Scandinavian Festival was started in hopes of reinvigorating the town after construction of Interstate 5 in 1960. This brought in many visitors to the city and is one of the things that Junction City is known for. Other events that the town boasts are the Annual Light Parade, the Function for Junction and the Daffodil Festival. The city now houses a population of over 6000 and continues to grow!

Some of the exciting activities that the Sesquicentennial Committee has planned are a Street Fair, Entertainment at Washburn Park, a city wide BBQ hosted by the Junction City Police Department and a community dance hosted by the Scandinavian Festival. Other activities planned are city hall tours with cake and ice cream, downtown historic tours, alumni night at Junction City High School football game and the Junction City Opry at the Junction City Grange.

Everyone is welcome to join in these activities and however you celebrate the Sesquicentennial, the Committee hopes everyone will have a lovely time at the City’s birthday!

For more information and a schedule of events, please visit the city’s website. Another way to make contact is to email jchistory@gmail.