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BHistory
History · Colfax

Colfax’s post office opened in 1870, and 20% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 60% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Its Register listing is the Colfax Municipal Building. Below: 6 old photos and papers from 1912 on and the census since 1880.

1870first post office
1on the National Register
20%homes built before 1940
6old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Colfax’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Colfax began

When was Colfax founded?

1870

The Colfax post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 66 in 18802020 census: 1,182156 years

How historic is Colfax?

B

More historic than 60% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Colfax post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Colfax’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Colfax is more historic than 60% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Colfax’s overall grade.
Founding era1870, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194019.5% of homes (±3.2) · typical WI town 12.1% · U.S. 8.4%B+National Register1 listing, 7.3 per 10,000 residents · typical WI town 3.0 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 60%
NewerOlder

Wisconsin towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Wisconsin town has 3.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Colfax’s 7.3 sits above most of its state (70% of Wisconsin towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.2 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Colfax’s past

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

Old housesHalf of Colfax’s homes were built before 1959.
★ What stands out · 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, 1870 to 1958

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1870Post officeThe Colfax post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1908Born hereLloyd Ellingson is born here
  5. 1912In the archiveBird's eye view of Colfax, Wis
  6. 1916BuiltColfax Municipal Building is built
  7. 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
1950s5 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 damagePresnell Vehicle after 1958 Tornado1958Presnell Vehicle after 1958 Tornado
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
Today7 recent
Colfax damage contours2025Colfax damage contours1958 Colfax Tornado Track20251958 Colfax Tornado Track1958 Colfax Tornado Path20251958 Colfax Tornado PathColfax, Wisconsin2024Colfax, WisconsinColfax Municipal Building in Wisconsin2024Colfax Municipal Building in WisconsinColfax Railroad Museum2021Colfax Railroad MuseumColfax Municipal Building2013Colfax Municipal Building
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
On the National Register

1 historic place in Colfax

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
2004
Colfax Municipal Building
Colfax Municipal Building, built 1916
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals1
Colfax Municipal BuildingLate 19th and 20th Century Revivals · Built 1916

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

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.

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

Questions about Colfax’s history

What year was Colfax founded?

The Colfax post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Colfax rank for history?

Colfax is more historic than 60% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

What is on the National Register in Colfax?

One place: the Colfax Municipal Building (listed 2004).

How old are the homes in Colfax?

20% of Colfax’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.2 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1959.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (12), the Library of Congress (1), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.