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History · Colfax

Colfax’s history is
mostly unwritten

The public archives hold no old photos of Colfax. The rest are in attics, shoeboxes and the historical society. Help start the collection.

0old images & papers
0recent photos

The story so far

from Wikipedia & the U.S. Census

Colfax Township is a civil township of Benzie County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 504 at the 2020 census. Colfax Township contains half of the village of Thompsonville, and the entire community of Nessen City

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 657 to 677 (+3%). Half of its homes were built before 1983.

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

Intro from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Population and housing: U.S. Census Bureau.

Be one of the first

Start Colfax’s collection

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

0 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Famous people close to Colfax

See all 3 →
Dora Hall StockmanDora Hall StockmanMarilla · 12 miGWGrace Gridley WilmBenzonia · 13 miHSHarold Hance SproutBenzonia · 13 mi
By decade

Colfax, decade by decade

Before
2000
No old photos in the archives yetWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
📷 Add from your album
National Register of Historic Places

Nothing in Colfax is on the National Register yet

That’s true of most small towns. It doesn’t mean Colfax has no history, only that no one has written up a nomination. The closest listed place is Benzie County Courthouse in Benzonia, 12.7 miles away.

Colfax and the nearest listed places

Dashed line = Colfax. Tap a dot.
Benzie County CourthouseMills Community HouseGwen Frostic StudioMakinen, John J., Bottle HouseNorthern Michigan AsylumWatervale Historic District

Closest to Colfax

Benzie County CourthouseBenzonia · Built 191212.7miMills Community HouseBenzonia · Building12.8miGwen Frostic StudioBenzonia · Building14.4miMakinen, John J., Bottle HouseMaple Grove · Building14.7miNorthern Michigan AsylumTraverse City · District17.4mi

How a place gets listed

1Talk to the stateEvery nomination goes through the State Historic Preservation Office. Owners, towns and historical societies can start one.
2Try a local or state list firstMany states keep their own register with a shorter form, a common first step for old barns, halls and schoolhouses.
3Write it upA nomination covers the history, photos and a map. Benzie County Courthouse’s page links to a real one.
Know an old place in Colfax?A mill, a schoolhouse, a cellar hole, a church: add a photo of it to Colfax’s story, or a memory of it.
📷 Add a photo of an old place
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places · photos from Wikimedia Commons

Then & now

When neighbors add old photos, retakes from the same spot appear here side by side.

Stories next door

nearby towns’ history
📜 Grant📜 Thompsonville📜 Inland📜 Cleon
We left the porch light on

Where to, neighbor?

You’re in Colfax, MIBenzie CountyView boundary

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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/15 · 2025-01-01
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