Granite is an unincorporated community

Unincorporated area

In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...

 in Lyon County

Lyon County, Iowa

-2010 census:The 2010 census recorded a population of 11,581 in the county, with a population density of . There were 4,848 housing units, of which 4,442 were occupied.-2000 census:...

, Iowa

Iowa

Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, near the historic Blood Run Site

Blood Run Site

The Blood Run Site is an archaeological site on the border of the US states of Iowa and South Dakota. The site was essentially populated for 8,500 years, within which earthworks structures were built by the Oneota Culture and occupied descendant tribes such as the Ioway, Otoe, Missouri, and shared...

 and the Gitchie Manitou State Preserve

Gitchie Manitou State Preserve

Gitchie Manitou is a small nature preserve in Lyon County, in the extreme northwestern corner of Iowa just northwest of Granite, Iowa, or just southeast of Sioux Falls, South Dakota...

.

Geography

Granite is the most northwestern community in Iowa near the banks of the Big Sioux River

Big Sioux River

The Big Sioux River is a tributary of the Missouri River, long, in eastern South Dakota and northwestern Iowa in the United States. The United States Board on Geographic Names settled on "Big Sioux River" as the stream's name in 1961....

, about 7 miles outside the city limits of Sioux Falls, South Dakota

Sioux Falls, South Dakota

Sioux Falls is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Dakota. Sioux Falls is the county seat of Minnehaha County, and also extends into Lincoln County to the south...

, it's also 6 miles west/northwest of Larchwood

Larchwood, Iowa

Larchwood is a city in Lyon County, Iowa, United States. The population was 788 at the 2000 census. Its main employer is the Novartis Animal Vaccines plant located southwest of the city.-History:...

. It's located 2.5 miles west of Iowa Highway 9, 2 miles south of the South Dakota state line and 1 mile west.

History

Granite was founded on June 12, 1886 at the request of the owners of the land, Richard and Bessie Pettigrew

Richard F. Pettigrew

Richard Franklin Pettigrew was an American lawyer, surveyor, and land developer. He represented the Dakota Territory in the U.S. Congress and, after the Dakotas were admitted as States, he was the first U.S. Senator from South Dakota.-Biography:Pettigrew was born in Ludlow, Windsor County,...

. The community of Iuka was then officially filed on March 14, 1887. The name of Iuka later on changed to Granite in late 1887.