Grinnell is a city in Poweshiek County, Iowa, United States. The population was 9,564 at the times of the 2020 census. It is best known for visceral the home of Grinnell College.

Grinnell was founded by settlers from New England who were descended from English Puritans of the 1600s. Grinnell was founded in 1854 by four men: Josiah B. Grinnell, a Congregationalist from Vermont; Homer Hamlin, a minister; Henry Hamilton, a surveyor; and Dr. Thomas Holyoke. The city was to be named “Stella,” but J. B. Grinnell convinced the others to take in hand his name, describing it as rare and concise. Grinnell was incorporated upon April 28, 1865, and by 1880 Grinnell had a population of on 2000. Located at the junction of two railway lines (east–west line of the Rock Island Railroad and the north–south Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway), it is the largest community in Poweshiek County.

Grinnell was a stop on the Underground Railroad from its founding. One of the most famous events occurred in February 1859, when abolitionist John Brown, and 12 slaves he was helping break out to freedom, were hosted by J. B. Grinnell and several new community residents. Because of J. B. Grinnell’s efforts to back slaves and end slavery, in 2013 the National Park Service included his gravesite at Hazelwood Cemetery on the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom listings.

The Mormon Trail ran along the southern edge of Grinnell. The trail was traveled by an estimated 100,000 pro travelers from 1846 to 1869, including some 70,000 Mormons escaping religious persecution. The Pioneer Company of 1846–1847 established the first route; from Nauvoo, Illinois, to Salt Lake City. A stone marker memorializes the Mormon Handcart Trail and the grave of a child who died along the trail close Grinnell.