Colfax, Iowa
8 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1984. It stands in Washington Township. It lies in ZIP code area 50054. It stands on Sugar Creek. The Survey maps it on the Colfax quadrangle. 2,255 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 801 feet above sea level.
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 2 records
Colfax Spring City Commercial Historic Districtlisted 2018
Hall, James Norman, Houselisted 1984
Population over time
2 figuresColfax grew from 2,093 to 2,255 between 2010 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.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 2,093 | |
| 2020 | 2,255 | +162 (+8%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
6 surveys from 8 printed sheetsMatched 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.
- 1954 USGS Des Moines quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1956 USGS Des Moines quadrangle1:250000
- 1957 USGS Des Moines quadrangle1:250000
- 1965 USGS Colfax quadrangle1:24000
- 1969 USGS Des Moines quadrangle1:250000
- 1984 USGS Des Moines quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Mines and quarries near this place
5 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 5 workings within 5 miles of Colfax: 4 past producers, 1 producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colfax Pit and Plant | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Perkins Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Roscoe Maggard Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
53 since 1997Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Colfax in 53 storm reports between 1997 and 2024: 20 thunderstorm wind, 20 hail, 3 flood, 3 funnel cloud. 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 2008 | Flash Flood | Colfax | $50,000 | Highway 117 was closed and street flooding was reported in Colfax. |
| March 2007 | Flood | Colfax | $50,000 | no account filed |
| June 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Colfax | $40,000 | no account filed |
| August 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | Colfax | $40,000 | no account filed |
| May 1998 | Flood | Colfax | $30,000 | no account filed |
| May 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Colfax | $25,000 | Measured wind gusts of 75 MPH received. |
| July 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Colfax | $25,000 | Numerous trees and limbs down. Power was out all the way north to Interstate 80. |
| April 2007 | Flood | Colfax | $25,000 | no account filed |
| April 2003 | Hail | Colfax | $25,000 | no account filed |
| April 2003 | Hail | Colfax | $25,000 | no account filed |
| July 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Colfax | $25,000 | no account filed |
| June 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Colfax | $15,000 | no account filed |
| June 2008 | Flash Flood | Colfax | $10,000 | Highway 117 was under water and about to be closed. |
| April 2001 | Tornado (F1) | Colfax | $10,000 | Intermittent track through open country. Tornado moved into Marshall County northwest of Baxter. |
| April 2003 | Hail | Colfax | $10,000 | no account filed |
| May 1998 | Hail | Colfax | $10,000 | no account filed |
| May 2000 | Thunderstorm Wind | Colfax | $7,000 | no account filed |
| July 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Colfax | $5,000 | Power lines down in Colfax. |
| July 2008 | Hail | Colfax | $5,000 | Winds of 60 MPH as well. |
| June 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Colfax | $5,000 | no account filed |
| September 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Colfax | $5,000 | no account filed |
| April 2003 | Hail | Colfax | $5,000 | no account filed |
| April 2003 | Hail | Colfax | $5,000 | no account filed |
| March 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Colfax | $5,000 | no account filed |
| June 2002 | Hail | Colfax | $5,000 | no account filed |
| June 2002 | Hail | Colfax | $5,000 | no account filed |
| May 2002 | Hail | Colfax | $5,000 | no account filed |
| June 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Colfax | $5,000 | no account filed |
| June 2009 | Thunderstorm Wind | Colfax | $3,000 | no account filed |
| July 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Colfax | $3,000 | no account filed |
| June 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Colfax | $3,000 | no account filed |
| July 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Colfax | $3,000 | no account filed |
| June 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Colfax | $2,000 | The Jasper County Sheriff reported dime size hail also with this storm. |
| July 2002 | Hail | Colfax | $2,000 | no account filed |
| April 1998 | Hail | Colfax | $500 | Thunderstorms fired up in advance of a cold front and upper level disturbance. Many of the storms produced pea size hail. Some reports indicated the hail covered the ground completely. One of the storms intensified briefly and dropped three quarter inch diameter hail in Jasper County at Colfax. |
| July 2024 | Hail | Colfax | - | Hail up to ping pong ball sized and wind gusts estimated up to 40 mph. |
| July 2024 | Hail | Colfax | - | Photo of hail from KCCI viewer. Size estimated based on photo. |
| June 2020 | Heavy Rain | Colfax | - | Mesonet reported a 24 hour rain total of 3.68 inches. Still raining at time of report. |
| August 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Colfax | - | Public report of winds gusts between 70 to 80 mph. |
| August 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Colfax | - | A trained spotter reported a large tree blocking both lanes of Highway F48 in Colfax. |
| August 2018 | Funnel Cloud | Colfax | - | Trained spotter reported a funnel cloud between Mitchellville and Colfax. |
| June 2018 | Heavy Rain | Colfax | - | Public reported heavy rainfall of 3.5 inches from yesterday through early this morning. |
| July 2018 | Funnel Cloud | Colfax | - | Public reported funnel cloud east of Highway 117 and S 60th St. |
| July 2018 | Tornado (EF0) | Colfax | - | Tornado remained in agricultural fields northwest of Prairie City for entire path length. |
| September 2018 | Heavy Rain | Colfax | - | Trained spotter reported heavy rainfall of 3.5 inches. |
| May 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Colfax | - | Trained spotter reported strong winds to 60 mph with heavy rainfall approaching. |
| June 2017 | Hail | Colfax | - | Trained spotter reported quarter sized hail. |
| July 2024 | Hail | Colfax | - | no account filed |
| June 2024 | Funnel Cloud | Colfax | - | no account filed |
| April 2006 | Hail | Colfax | - | no account filed |
| June 2003 | Hail | Colfax | - | no account filed |
| June 2003 | Hail | Colfax | - | no account filed |
| June 2002 | Hail | Colfax | - | no account filed |
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 | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Severs | 2.5 miles | 8 | |
| Oswalt | 3.0 miles | 11 | |
| Goddard | 3.9 miles | 8 | |
| Green Castle | 4.8 miles | 11 | |
| Prairie City | 5.4 miles | 8 | |
| Prairiebell | 5.6 miles | 11 | |
| Valeria | 5.6 miles | 11 | |
| Metz | 5.9 miles | 8 |
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 Colfax | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q1934234 | The 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 455527. 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.
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.





