Colfax, IN

Colfax began as Midway, laid out by Montgomery Stroud in 1849 at a halfway point on the IC&L Railroad between Chicago and Louisville. Rail lines later met on north-south and east-west routes, making the town a transfer point for passengers and freight. In 1857, the community adopted the name Colfax in honor of Schuyler Colfax, the Indiana politician who later became vice president. The old railroad geography gives the town a history larger than its present scale.

ATTRKen Lund from Reno, Nevada, USA / CC BY-SA 2.0

Colfax-Perry Township Public Library carries that history into current community routines. Its local history museum and digitized research collection preserve maps, photographs, and records tied to Colfax and the surrounding township. That combination of a rail-era layout and a small institution devoted to local memory gives the Clinton County town a practical way to understand its past. Someone arriving today can place Colfax through its Perry Township setting, its connection to the old Chicago-Louisville route, and the library that keeps the town’s names, rail lines, and civic changes available to residents.