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History · Colfax Township

Colfax Township’s post office opened in 1877, and 19% of its homes were built before 1940

1877first post office
0on the National Register
19%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Colfax Township began

When was Colfax Township founded?

1877

The Colfax Township post office opened in 1877, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Colfax (1877), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 612149 years
Founding year: the first Colfax Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Colfax Township’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Colfax Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Colfax Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Colfax Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story so far

Colfax Township, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Colfax Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Colfax Township is a township in Kandiyohi County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 557 at the 2000 census. Colfax Township was organized in 1871, and named for Schuyler Colfax, 17th Vice President of the United States.

Its first post office opened in 1877. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 547 to 612 (+12%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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Famous people

Famous people close to Colfax Township

Nobody well known was born in Colfax Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Shane ZylstraAmerican football tight end · b. 1996
M
Manny SteeleAmerican politician · b. 1940
B
Brandon ZylstraAmerican gridiron football player · b. 1993
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Another post office, Colfax, opened and closed inside today’s town.

1cemetery inside Colfax Township
Colfax

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Burbank TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCrow Lake TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLake Andrew Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townNorway Lake TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCrow River TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Colfax Township’s history

What year was Colfax Township founded?

The Colfax Township post office opened in 1877, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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Sources

Where this page comes from

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 the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.