George J. Grant, the founder of the construction company which still bears his name emigrated to St. Paul, MN from Nova Scotia in 1879. He had already been involved in the construction industry in Canada where he had built portions of the Canadian Pacific Railroad.

He had heard of a bustling city in Minnesota called St. Paul, which the efforts of pioneer businessmen like "Empire Builder" James J. Hill were turning into the rail center of the Northwest. He founded George J. Grant construction Co of Minnesota a year after he arrived.