Colfax may be said to have ridden to prosperity on the coattails of Dawson in the late 1890s, when Dawson mushroomed as a coal boomtown. Dawson is dead and gone, but Colfax, however clings to mortality. It came into being on a spur of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway and once had a hotel and a number of other buildings, which can still be seen.
Colfax is another one of those towns that was highly promoted and short on delivery. The railroads and land promoters promised great farming, close to transportation (read the railroad) and mineral deposits in the early 1900's. Coal mining was nearby at Dawson and Cimarron was not far away. A post office was opened in 1908 and closed in 1921. A short life for a town near the turn of the century.
Location
About 15 miles northeast of Cimarron on US 64.
Getting There
Colfax is appx 12 miles northeast of Cimarron or 30 miles southwest of Raton on Nm Highway 64.
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Resources
Images Courtesy of Mike Sinnwell
