Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
Colfax was laid out on March 22, 1880, by James E. Wood (1818 – 1908). Anderson was born in Indiana and had come to McLean County about 1855 as State Missionary for the Christian Church. He stayed and became a farmer, a banker, and a lifelong promoter of Colfax. To locals, Anderson was affectionately known as "Uncle Billy". The northeastern townships of the county were among the last to be served by railroads. After many false starts the Clinton, Bloomington, and Northwestern Railroad began making its way westward from Kankakee. It was aided by contributions in cash and land for the right-of-way by many local farmers. Cropsey, Anchor, and Cooksville were all laid out at the same time as Colfax. The first train arrived in Colfax on July 4, 1880. For two years the track extended only from Kankakee to Colfax, and a turntable was installed to send the trains back eastwards. Eventually the t…
Passages that mention Colfax, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of McLean County, Illinois1924 · page 178Read the page →
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178 History of McLean County The Williams school at the head of the Mackinaw in the early days became the school for the town of Colfax. After the Illinois Central branch was built down from Kankakee, the village of Colfax was laid out and the Williams schoolhouse was moved into town. In 1883 the village voted bonds for a new schoolhouse and the old one went out of use. The district was reorganized in 1894 and a board of education was elected. Two rooms were added to the building in 1899, but on Oct. 18, 1900, the
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History of McLean County, Illinois1924 · page 110Read the page →
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The village of Colfax was incorporated in 1880, and from the start was growing and prosperous. There was a large amount of grain shipped through the three elevators located there. The business district was laid out on a wide street, and the residences were of substantial and modern character. It has always had schools of a high grade for the size of the town, and modern school facilities have been provided. There are several churches. For many years the question of "license" or "no license" formed the main question at the local elections, but finally saloons
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Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Colfax, 1880 to 1958
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
