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–Not graded
History · Colfax

17% of Colfax’s homes were built before 1940

Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1934 on, and the census since 1880.

0on the National Register
17%homes built before 1940
5old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Colfax’s archive · credits on each photo
The story

How Colfax came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Colfax.

Read it all →

The community was named for Schuyler Colfax, who served as vice president under Ulysses S. Grant. On June 4, 1958, Colfax was struck by a powerful F5 tornado, leaving its southern and northeastern sections heavily damaged or destroyed.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Colfax, 1908 to 1958

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 20th century
  2. 1908Born hereLloyd Ellingson is born here
  3. 1912In the archiveBird's eye view of Colfax, Wis
  4. 1934On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1958In the archiveAerial of Colfax after 1958 Tornado
By decade

Colfax, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1910s to the 1950s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s1 item
Bird's eye view of Colfax, Wis1912Bird's eye view of Colfax, Wis
1920s–1940snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
1950s4 items
Aerial of Colfax after 1958 Tornado1958Aerial of Colfax after 1958 TornadoAir View of Colfax after tornado1958Air View of Colfax after tornadoColfax Tornado Damage North Side1958Colfax Tornado Damage North SideColfax Vehicle and Bridge damage1958Colfax Vehicle and Bridge damage
1960s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
On the map

Colfax on the map, 1934 to 1972

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Colfax. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Colfax on the 1934 USGS mapColfax on the 1972 USGS map1934Elk Mound sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Colfax.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Bird's eye view of Colfax, Wis
Retake this viewBird's eye view of Colfax, Wis, 1912

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Colfax’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Colfax, census by census

02004006008001,0001,200188019001920194019601980200020201,182

Grew from 66 people in 1880 to 1,182 in 2020, more than tenfold.

13 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Colfax’s Wikipedia page.

Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Gone or out of use
Bear Valley SchoolschoolKnapp Settlement SchoolschoolRunning Valley SchoolschoolSinking Creek Schoolschool
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Colfax
Hill GroveLower Running Valley

Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Finish Colfax’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewBird's eye view of Colfax, Wis: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

TainterIts storyC−GrantIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townElk MoundIts storyC−HowardIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townTainter LakeIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Colfax’s history

Memory lane

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

Town Square →
Start a conversation
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 Wikimedia Commons (4), the Library of Congress (1), Wikidata (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.