Colfax: History, Parks, and Activities

Colfax can be explored from several angles: historic sites and the history of mineral water sit alongside parks, water activities, golf, and events. If you’re looking for a hotel in Colfax, it helps to decide what you’d like to focus on during your trip: exploring the city’s history, spending time outdoors, or planning around an event. The places and activities below offer specific starting points.

History and Architecture

Mineral Springs Park, a historic park, is at the north entrance to Downtown Colfax. Its features include a brick Craftsman-style building, built in 1933, with a pavilion and a spring house. The building provides a tangible architectural connection to Colfax’s history.

The Colfax Historical Society and Museum displays artifacts from Colfax’s history, including exhibits on bottling Colfax mineral water and hotel advertising. These subjects are set in historical context by the mineral water industry, which brought thousands of visitors to Colfax annually for about forty years.

Woman’s Club Park is also a historic park, located in the southeastern part of Historic Downtown Colfax. Its amenities include a terraced amphitheater and a stage. The stage is occasionally used for local concerts.

The historic Colfax Public Library was built in 1913 with funding from the Andrew Carnegie Library Grant Program and retains its original 1913 Tudor Revival exterior. The Spring City Commercial Historic District in Colfax is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. For an architectural comparison, two specific features stand out: the 1933 brick Craftsman-style building and the preserved Tudor Revival exterior of the library, built in 1913.

Parks and Outdoor Activities

Quarry Springs Park is a 480-acre recreational park just north of Downtown Colfax. The park offers primitive camping as well as opportunities for canoeing and kayaking. The South Skunk River also offers opportunities for canoeing.

If you’d like to make golf the focus of your stay, consider the Colfax Country Club. It has a nine-hole golf course and a full-size driving range. This golf offering is distinct from the water activities mentioned at Quarry Springs Park and the South Skunk River. The driving range is for practicing golf shots and complements the nine-hole course.

Events and Swimming

The Jasper County Fair is held annually in July in Colfax and includes a horse show. It offers family entertainment and promotes agricultural education for young people. When planning your trip, you can schedule a stay in Colfax for July and make the fair part of your plans.

Another recreational option is the Colfax Public Swimming Pool, which offers swimming lessons.

Discover more destinations: Newton.

For the county-wide travel overview: Jasper County.