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Colfax (formerly Alden Grove, Alder Grove, Illinoistown, and Upper Corral) is a city in
Placer County, California Placer County ( ; ''Placer'', Spanish for "sand deposit"), officially the County of Placer, is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 404,739. The county seat is Auburn. P ...
, at the crossroads of Interstate 80 and State Route 174. The population was 1,995 at the 2020 census. The town is named in honor of U.S. Vice President
Schuyler Colfax Schuyler Colfax Jr. ( ; March 23, 1823January 13, 1885) was an American journalist, businessman, and politician who served as the 17th vice president of the United States from 1869 to 1873, and prior to that as the 25th Speaker of the United Sta ...
(1869–73), a bronze statue of whom stands at Railroad Street and Grass Valley Street. (This is one of two known statues of Schuyler Colfax in the United States, the other located in Indianapolis, Indiana.) Some of the town's notable features include the newly restored
Southern Pacific Railroad The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials) was an American Railroad classes#Class I, Class I Rail transport, railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was oper ...
colonnade-style depot (which houses the Colfax Museum and Chamber of Commerce) built in 1905, the downtown shops on Main Street, and Colfax High School, which serves a large surrounding area.


History

Originally inhabited by the
Maidu The Maidu are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American people of northern California. They reside in the central Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada, in the watershed area of the Feather River, Feather and American River, American ...
and
Miwok The Miwok (also spelled Miwuk, Mi-Wuk, or Me-Wuk) are members of four linguistically related Native Americans in the United States, Native American groups indigenous to what is now Northern California, who traditionally spoke one of the Miwok lan ...
Native Americans, by the mid-19th century the city site was known as ''Alder Grove''; however, as development increased, the city became known as ''Illinoistown'', a supply hub for gold mining camps. In April 1852, the Reelfoot Williams Gang robbed a Nevada City
stagecoach A stagecoach (also: stage coach, stage, road coach, ) is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by ...
of $7,000 in gold bullion near Illinoistown. This was the first stagecoach robbery in the gold country. Later it was renamed Colfax after then Speaker of the House (and later
Vice President A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...
)
Schuyler Colfax Schuyler Colfax Jr. ( ; March 23, 1823January 13, 1885) was an American journalist, businessman, and politician who served as the 17th vice president of the United States from 1869 to 1873, and prior to that as the 25th Speaker of the United Sta ...
who visited the town in 1865 while inspecting progress of construction of the Central Pacific Railroad, the western portion of the
first transcontinental railroad America's first transcontinental railroad (known originally as the "Pacific Railroad" and later as the "Overland Route (Union Pacific Railroad), Overland Route") was a continuous railroad line built between 1863 and 1869 that connected the exis ...
. The city was the southern terminus of the Nevada County Narrow Gauge Railroad from 1876 until the railroad's removal in 1942. Historic U.S. Route 40 also runs through the city as well as the more modern Interstate 80. The city is mentioned in
Jules Verne Jules Gabriel Verne (;''Longman Pronunciation Dictionary''. ; 8 February 1828 – 24 March 1905) was a French novelist, poet and playwright. His collaboration with the publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel led to the creation of the ''Voyages extraor ...
’s book, '' Around the World in Eighty Days''. In July 2015 the Lowell Fire burned thousands of acres nearby, forcing evacuation in Nevada County. In March 2020, the COVID-19 Pandemic caused a state wide shelter in place order to be issued. This resulted in the long term closure of many local businesses despite the direct opposition from local officials. On August 4, 2021, the River Fire started in the Bear River Campground, forcing thousands of residents on both the Placer and Nevada county sides of the river to evacuate. The fire was contained nine days later after burning over and dozens of homes. Acting Mayor Trinity Burruss led the city during the emergency response. In December 2021, the city was placed under a state of emergency due to severe snow storms. More than 575,000 metered electric customers in Northern California were without power at some point during the storm, with about 141,000 still without power one month after the first major outage. The City was again reliant on the leadership of the Mayor to get supplies and critical support to residents left without a safe heat source.


Geography

Colfax is located at (39.097260, −120.954017). According to the
United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...
, the city has a total area of , all of it land. The principal geologic structures present are
granitic A granitoid is a broad term referring to a diverse group of coarse-grained igneous rocks that are widely distributed across the globe, covering a significant portion of the Earth's exposed surface and constituting a large part of the continental ...
and
metamorphic Metamorphic rocks arise from the transformation of existing rock to new types of rock in a process called metamorphism. The original rock (protolith) is subjected to temperatures greater than and, often, elevated pressure of or more, causi ...
rock formations. Located approximately west of Colfax is a branch of the Melones Fault, running in north to south direction. The fault runs through the old grammar school baseball field so they closed the school. (Earth Metrics, 1989) Another branch of the same fault is located about to the east, also aligned in a north–south orientation. No movement has been recorded by the U.S. Geological Survey, and the faults are considered inactive. Bunch Creek is an active water source flowing south to eventually reach a
confluence In geography, a confluence (also ''conflux'') occurs where two or more watercourses join to form a single channel (geography), channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main ...
with the North Fork of the
American River The American River is a List of rivers of California, river in California that runs from the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada mountain range to its confluence with the Sacramento River in downtown Sacramento. Via the Sacramento River, it ...
. Colfax sits a few miles outside the Tahoe National Forest as I-80 begins its climb into the Sierras. Because of its location it is considered at high risk of wildfire.


Climate

Colfax has a
hot-summer Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate ( ), also called a dry summer climate, described by Köppen and Trewartha as ''Cs'', is a temperate climate type that occurs in the lower mid-latitudes (normally 30 to 44 north and south latitude). Such climates typic ...
(
Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...
''Csa'') that is characterized by cool, wet winters and hot, dry summers. Summers can be quite hot, especially in the months of July and August where temperatures easily reach , with plenty of sunshine. Winters, on the other hand, are quite cool with temperatures in December hovering around , and owing to its altitude above sea level, Colfax some years sees snow accumulation.


Demographics

The 2020 United States census reported that Colfax had a population of 1,995. The population density was . The racial makeup of Colfax was 1,625 (81.5%)
White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 10 (0.5%)
African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
, 40 (2.0%) Native American, 23 (1.2%) Asian, 5 (0.3%)
Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...
, 68 (3.4%) from other races, and 224 (11.2%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 210 persons (10.5%). The whole population lived in households. There were 862 households, out of which 251 (29.1%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 316 (36.7%) were married-couple households, 83 (9.6%) were cohabiting couple households, 262 (30.4%) had a female householder with no partner present, and 201 (23.3%) had a male householder with no partner present. 283 households (32.8%) were one person, and 137 (15.9%) were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.31. There were 497 families (57.7% of all households). The age distribution was 421 people (21.1%) under the age of 18, 177 people (8.9%) aged 18 to 24, 539 people (27.0%) aged 25 to 44, 500 people (25.1%) aged 45 to 64, and 358 people (17.9%) who were 65years of age or older. The median age was 38.6years. For every 100 females, there were 96.7 males. There were 921 housing units at an average density of , of which 862 (93.6%) were occupied. Of these, 447 (51.9%) were owner-occupied, and 415 (48.1%) were occupied by renters.


Transportation

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...
, the national passenger rail system, provides service to Colfax. The city's passenger rail station is located at 99 Railroad Street in the heart of town. Amtrak Train 5, the westbound ''
California Zephyr The ''California Zephyr'' is a Amtrak Long Distance, long-distance passenger train operated by Amtrak between Chicago, Illinois, Chicago and the San Francisco Bay Area (at Emeryville station, Emeryville), via Omaha, Nebraska, Omaha, Denver, Sa ...
'', is scheduled to depart Colfax at 11:48 a.m. daily with service to Roseville,
Sacramento Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the seat of Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers in Northern California's Sacramento Valley, Sacramento's 2020 p ...
, Davis, Martinez, and Emeryville across the bay from
San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
. Amtrak Train 6, the eastbound ''California Zephyr'', is scheduled to depart Colfax at 12:21 p.m. daily with service to Truckee, Reno, Sparks, Winnemucca, Elko, Salt Lake City, Provo, Helper, Green River, Grand Junction, Glenwood Springs, Denver, Omaha, Galesburg, and
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
. A bronze statue of the town's namesake, Schuyler Colfax, stands near the depot at the Grass Valley Street railroad grade crossing.
Amtrak Thruway Amtrak Thruway is a system of through-ticketed transportation services to connect passengers with areas not served by Amtrak trains. In most cases these are dedicated motorcoach routes, but can also be non-dedicated intercity bus services, transi ...
20 provides a daily connection from Colfax Depot to Sacramento Valley Station to the west, and South Lake Tahoe to the east, with a few stops in between. Placer County Transit provides weekday commuter service to/from Colfax Depot to/from Downtown Sacramento.https://placercountytransit.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Route60-Placer-Commuter-Express.pdf File:East portal of Tunnel 34, view to south-southwest, 135mm lens with electronic flash fill. Note the shift, in these later tunnels east of Colfax, to concrete portal faces with HAER CAL,31-COLF.V,1-3.tif, East portal of Tunnel 34, Colfax, on the historic Central Pacific Railroad. File:Schuyler Colfax Statue.jpg, A statue of the town's namesake U.S. Vice President Schuyler Colfax stands near the railroad station in historic downtown Colfax. File:Historic Stevens Trail CA.JPG, The historic Stevens Trail's trailhead is in Colfax


References


Colfax, California community profile
* Earth Metrics Inc., " Phase I Environmental Site Assessment, Bunch Creek Shopping Center, Colfax, California", printed in San Mateo, Ca., Document File no. 7928W0, May 16, 1989


Further reading

* Moody, C. L. (1917). The breccias of the Mariposa formation in the vicinity of Colfax, California. University of California publications, v. 10, no. 21. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. . * Du Vall, A. H., & Landrith, M. H. (1984). ''A Colfax cemetery recording: Colfax, California, February 29, 1984''. Auburn, CA: The Authors. .


External links


City of Colfax

Colfax Area Chamber of Commerce

Colfax History
{{Authority control 1910 establishments in California Cities in Placer County, California Cities in Sacramento metropolitan area Schuyler Colfax Incorporated cities and towns in California Populated places established in 1910 Populated places in the Sierra Nevada (United States)