BlockBefore

Colfax, California

34 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1891 and the latest in 1977. It stands in the Colfax-Monumental Ridge census division. It lies in ZIP code area 95713. It stands on Colfax Hill. The Survey maps it on the Colfax quadrangle. 1,995 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 2,425 feet above sea level.

Colfax within Placer County

Then and now

1891 to 1977

The same ground, surveyed 86 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Colfax, surveyed 1977
Topographic sheet of Colfax, surveyed 1891

On record in Colfax

Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.

On the National Register 3 records

Population over time

3 figures

Colfax grew from 591 to 1,995 between 1880 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.

YearPeople Change
1880591
20101,963
20201,995+32 (+2%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

13 surveys from 34 printed sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

Fires near this place

531 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 531 fires within 5 miles of Colfax between 1992 and 2020, burning about 4,152 acres in total. 8 started naturally. 24 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Missing data/not specified/undetermined205
Debris and open burning134
Equipment and vehicle use91
Misuse of fire by a minor24
Arson/incendiarism24
Smoking14
Recreation and ceremony13
Railroad operations and maintenance8
Natural8
Power generation/transmission/distribution6
Other causes2
Fireworks1
Firearms and explosives use1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
9 September 1992Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreNevada-Yuba-Placer UnitPGE
8 September 2013Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreNevada-Yuba-Placer UnitSECRET
7 September 2009Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreNevada-Yuba-Placer UnitPOWERLINE
7 September 2004Equipment and vehicle use3.0 acresCentral California DistrictBLUM
7 September 1999Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreCentral California DistrictPENINSULA
6 September 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire ProtectionGRAND
6 September 1998Naturalunder an acreNevada-Yuba-Placer UnitCARRIE
5 September 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire ProtectionROLLINS

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Placer County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 143 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 143 workings within 5 miles of Colfax: 48 occurrences, 39 unknowns, 35 past producers, 17 producers. 17 still produce. What was taken out: Gold, Chromium, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Manganese. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Bear RiverGold, Arsenic, SilverUnknown
Colfax MineClayProducer
Steele PropertyMineral PigmentsOccurrenceMineral Pigments
UnnamedGold, Silver, ArsenicPast ProducerGold, Pyrite, Tetrahedrite
VictoryGold, Silver, Copper, LeadPast ProducerChalcopyrite, Galena, Gold, Pyrite
You Bet White MillSilicaProducer
JohnsonAntimonyOccurrence
JohnsonAntimonyOccurrence
Benjastorf DepositIronOccurrence
Wall PropertyTalc-SoapstoneUnknown

Every working recorded in Placer County

Storms near this place

3 since 2017

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Colfax in 3 storm reports between 2017 and 2019: 2 flash flood, 1 debris flow. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
January 2017Debris FlowColfax$6,000There was a mudslide blocking Highway 174 in Colfax.
May 2019Flash FloodColfax-There was 1 1/2 feet of water flooding the west bound lane of I80.
May 2019Flash FloodColfax-Flooding of entire west bound off-ramp of I80 in Colfax.

Every storm recorded in Placer County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Illinoistown (historical)0.9 miles34
Shady Glen1.2 miles34
Pinecroft2.1 miles34
Cape Horn2.5 miles36
Lander Crossing2.6 miles34
Eden Valley3.8 miles34
Weimar4.5 miles34
Magra4.5 miles36

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikipedia article on ColfaxAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2190495The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 1655912. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.