Colfax, IA

Colfax is a Jasper County city about 24 miles east of Des Moines, with 2,255 residents in the 2020 census. It was laid out in 1866 and named for Schuyler Colfax, Ulysses S. Grant’s vice president. The place later picked up its “Spring City” nickname from the mineral springs that helped shape its early reputation. Colfax-Mingo Community School District serves the area, and the Colfax–Mingo Junior/Senior High campus sits beside Lewis Park on the west side of town. The city’s older commercial center, preserved as the Colfax Spring City Commercial Historic District, keeps the railroad-era main street visible.

ATTRColfaxMainStreet / CC BY-SA 4.0

Colfax is small enough that city services, the library, school events, and Main Street projects all overlap. The last weekend of August brings the town’s big annual gathering, while Lewis Park handles everyday play and open-air time. Des Moines is close enough for regional work and shopping, but Colfax still operates as its own Jasper County community, with a mayor-council government, local businesses, school district, and spring-water history. The local scoop is in the nickname: “Spring City” is not just a slogan—it is the old reason people knew the place.