Colfax, Illinois
Encyclopedia
Colfax is a village in McLean County
, Illinois
, United States
. The population was 1,061 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Bloomington
–Normal
Metropolitan Statistical Area.
The journalist
and Northwestern University
professor Elmo Scott Watson
was born in Colfax in 1892.
According to the United States Census Bureau
, the village has a total area of 0.5 square miles (1.3 km²), all of it land.
. He stayed and became a farmer, a banker, and a lifelong promoter of Colfax. To locals, Anderson was affectionately known as “Uncle Billy.” The northeastern townships of the county were among the last to be served by railroads. After many false starts the Clinton, Bloomington, and Northwestern Railroad began making its way westward from Kankakee, Illinois
. It was aided by contributions in cash and land for the right-of-way by many local farmers. Cropsey
, Anchor
, and Cooksville
were all laid out at the same time as Colfax. The first train arrived in Colfax on 4 July 1880. For two years the track extended only from Kankakee to Colfax and a turntable was installed to send the trains back eastwards. Eventually the tracks ware completed to Bloomington. The Railroad soon became part of the Illinois Central system. Colfax is one of several communities in the United States named for Grant's Vice President Schuyler Colfax. Others include Colfax, California
; Colfax, Indiana
; Colfax, Louisiana
; Colfax, North Carolina
and Colfax, Washington
.
of 2000, there were 989 people, 395 households, and 253 families residing in the village. The population density
was 1,829.4 people per square mile (707.1/km²). There were 422 housing units at an average density of 780.6 per square mile (301.7/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 99.09% White, 0.51% Native American, 0.20% from other races
, and 0.20% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.42% of the population.
There were 395 households out of which 28.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.7% were married couples
living together, 6.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.7% were non-families. 32.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.39 and the average family size was 3.06.
In the village the population was spread out with 25.3% under the age of 18, 6.5% from 18 to 24, 27.0% from 25 to 44, 18.3% from 45 to 64, and 23.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 93.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.4 males.
The median income for a household in the village was $41,544, and the median income for a family was $50,500. Males had a median income of $31,875 versus $23,438 for females. The per capita income
for the village was $17,993. About 0.8% of families and 3.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 1.2% of those under age 18 and 5.6% of those age 65 or over.
McLean County, Illinois
McLean County is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois. McLean County is included in the Bloomington–Normal, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 169,572, which is an increase of 12.7% from 150,433 in 2000. Its county seat is...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The population was 1,061 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Bloomington
Bloomington, Illinois
Bloomington is a city in McLean County, Illinois, United States and the county seat. It is adjacent to Normal, Illinois, and is the more populous of the two principal municipalities of the Bloomington-Normal metropolitan area...
–Normal
Normal, Illinois
Normal is an incorporated town in McLean County, Illinois, United States. It had a population of 52,497 as of the 2010 census. Normal is the smaller of two principal municipalities of the Bloomington-Normal metropolitan area...
Metropolitan Statistical Area.
The journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
and Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
professor Elmo Scott Watson
Elmo Scott Watson
Elmo Scott Watson was an American journalist and college professor, whose longest educational stint was at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois...
was born in Colfax in 1892.
Geography
Colfax is located at 40°33′59"N 88°36′55"W (40.566290, -88.615304).According to the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the village has a total area of 0.5 square miles (1.3 km²), all of it land.
Founding
Colfax was laid out on 22 March 1880 by James E. Wood (22 October 1818 – October 1908). Anderson was born in Indiana and had come to McLean County about 1855 as State Missionary for the Christian ChurchChristian Church
The Christian Church is the assembly or association of followers of Jesus Christ. The Greek term ἐκκλησία that in its appearances in the New Testament is usually translated as "church" basically means "assembly"...
. He stayed and became a farmer, a banker, and a lifelong promoter of Colfax. To locals, Anderson was affectionately known as “Uncle Billy.” The northeastern townships of the county were among the last to be served by railroads. After many false starts the Clinton, Bloomington, and Northwestern Railroad began making its way westward from Kankakee, Illinois
Kankakee, Illinois
Kankakee is a city in Kankakee County, Illinois, USA. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 25,561, and 26,840 as of a 2009 estimate. It is the county seat of Kankakee County...
. It was aided by contributions in cash and land for the right-of-way by many local farmers. Cropsey
Cropsey, Illinois
Cropsey is a small town in McLean County, Illinois, United States. It was named for a Civil War colonel in the Union Army.-Founding of Cropsey:...
, Anchor
Anchor, Illinois
Anchor is a village in McLean County, Illinois, United States. The population was 146 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Bloomington–Normal Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Anchor is located at ....
, and Cooksville
Cooksville, Illinois
Cooksville is a village in McLean County, Illinois, United States. The population was 182 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Bloomington–Normal Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Cooksville is located at ....
were all laid out at the same time as Colfax. The first train arrived in Colfax on 4 July 1880. For two years the track extended only from Kankakee to Colfax and a turntable was installed to send the trains back eastwards. Eventually the tracks ware completed to Bloomington. The Railroad soon became part of the Illinois Central system. Colfax is one of several communities in the United States named for Grant's Vice President Schuyler Colfax. Others include Colfax, California
Colfax, California
Colfax is a city in Placer County, California, at the crossroads of Interstate 80 and State Route 174. It is part of the Sacramento–Arden-Arcade–Roseville Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,963 at the 2010 census...
; Colfax, Indiana
Colfax, Indiana
Colfax is a town in Perry Township, Clinton County, Indiana, United States. The population was 691 at the 2010 census. The town was originally known as Midway since it was a half-way point on the IC&L Railroad between Lafayette and Indianapolis; it was later renamed to honor Vice President...
; Colfax, Louisiana
Colfax, Louisiana
Colfax is a town in and the parish seat of Grant Parish, Louisiana, United States. The town, founded in 1869, is named for the vice president of the United States, Schuyler M. Colfax , who served in the first term of U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant, for whom the parish is named. Colfax is part of...
; Colfax, North Carolina
Colfax, North Carolina
Colfax is a small unincorporated community located in Guilford County, North Carolina. As of the 2000 census, the CDP had a population of 2,469. Colfax is located at ....
and Colfax, Washington
Colfax, Washington
Colfax is the county seat of Whitman County, Washington, United States.The population was 2,805 at the 2010 census.It is situated amidst wheat-covered hills in a valley at the confluence of the north and south forks of the Palouse River. U.S...
.
Original design and early growth
The Original Town of Colfax was a rectangle on the north side of the tracks. There were twelve blocks, each with eight or sixteen small lots, and an additional four blocks, each with a single larger lot, were located along the western edge of the Original Town., for a total of one hundred lots. These faced a widened area of railroad land, which ran the full length of the Original Town. No other public spaces were designated, but Main Street, which ran parallel to the tracks and one block to the north, was wider than the other streets. The depot was on the north side of the tracks and the early elevator, lumber yard and stock yard were on the south side. William Rinker erected the first store, which sold groceries. Another grocery store, Wilson and Santee, followed. The third store was a somewhat larger two-story structure built by D.A. Green, who had moved his operation into Colfax from Potosi near the McLean County–Livingston County border; Green sold groceries, dry goods and drugs.First coal mines
In 1886 a company was formed to open the first of two coal mines at Colfax. The first to be opened was the shaft just west of town. Frank Seymour and Sons were paid fourteen dollars a foot to sink the shaft. They encountered problems with water, with cave ins and were soon slowed by the need to blast their way through limestone layers before reaching the coal seems. The railroad was unable to bring in sufficient shoring for the shaft and additional timber had to be hauled in by wagon. At 140 feet (42.7 m) they struck a narrow vein of coal, but excavators had to go down to 392 feet (119.5 m) before finding a productive 5+1/2 ft seam of coal. Miners were brought in, and the first coal was taken in June 1888. Financial troubles and rapid changes of ownership soon followed. The organization of a company to open a second shaft, this one east of town, shaft began in December 1891, but it was June 1894 before digging could begin.Problems with the mines
The east shaft encountered great difficulties with water and with layers of quicksand. After many delays and extensive pumping, coal was found in 1895, but trouble with financing delayed production for two years. The 200 miners who flooded into Colfax encountered an acute shortage of housing, which was not solved until a large number of small miner’s cottages could be built: a few of these may still be found in Colfax. Financial troubles quickly mounted In May 1892 the east shaft had to be sold at auction. In 1901 and 1902 almost 60,000 tons of coal were being taken out of the mines, but increased difficulty with finances soon reduced production. Once the mines were opened, unions were organized and strikes followed. Mining at Colfax proved to be a deadly business; between 1889 and 1902 eleven miners died, most of them crushed by falling rock. The west shaft produced most of the coal, but was closed in 1904. This mine remained idle for many years until being briefly re-opened as a cooperative venture between 1921 and 1924. Eventually the abandoned shaft became a rubbish dump and was eventually filled.Growth of the town
Once established, Colfax grew rapidly. In 1892 a tile factory was built in the northeast corner of town; as was often the case in central Illinois, the former tile factory grounds eventually became a small park. A cigar factory was built. About the same time, a small factory for the manufacture of tin cans started production. By 1888 Colfax had a newspaper, the Colfax Leader. Electric lights came in 1895. Four churches began soon after the town was founded: Christian, Methodist, and Presbyterian, and Roman Catholic. William H. Anderson, who raised Standard Bred and Road Bred horses, had a half-mile horse track just east of town. After the mines closed, Colfax settled into a quieter life as the commercial hub of a prosperous grain-growing area. However, eastern McLean County has been an area of little population growth and the population of Colfax, which peaked in 1900, had dropped fourteen percent by 2000.Demographics
As of the censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there were 989 people, 395 households, and 253 families residing in the village. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 1,829.4 people per square mile (707.1/km²). There were 422 housing units at an average density of 780.6 per square mile (301.7/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 99.09% White, 0.51% Native American, 0.20% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 0.20% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.42% of the population.
There were 395 households out of which 28.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.7% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 6.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.7% were non-families. 32.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.39 and the average family size was 3.06.
In the village the population was spread out with 25.3% under the age of 18, 6.5% from 18 to 24, 27.0% from 25 to 44, 18.3% from 45 to 64, and 23.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 93.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.4 males.
The median income for a household in the village was $41,544, and the median income for a family was $50,500. Males had a median income of $31,875 versus $23,438 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the village was $17,993. About 0.8% of families and 3.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 1.2% of those under age 18 and 5.6% of those age 65 or over.