Welcome!

Colfax County NMGenWeb is a free genealogical site about the history of the county. It is a member of NMGenWeb, which is a member of USGenWeb®. We hope you find helpful clues for your research of Colfax County ancestors.

What's New at Colfax County NMGenWeb since your last visit
Search Colfax County NMGenWeb for a specific name

Please consider contributing your pieces of Colfax County family history. Corrections, updates, and additions to this site are always welcome. Our combined efforts can keep this a great site for all who visit!

Co-County Coordinator: YOU? If you have a sincere interest in the genealogy of Colfax County, and if you are willing to help others along their family history journey, but website maintenance doesn't appeal to you, consider becoming a Co-CC. As Co-CC you would reply to email inquiries, contribute content, monitor the website, .... Contact us to give it a try.

County Coordinator: Norma Hass normahass01@gmail.com

COUNTY FORMATION

Colfax County was created in 1869 from Mora County which was created from Taos County, an original New Mexico county. The county originally covered the entire northeast corner of the state to the Texas border. In 1893 a portion of Colfax County was taken to create Union County. that area was divided again in 1921 to create Harding County.

Colfax County's terrain includes a portion of the Southern Rockies, the foothills with their mining regions, spreading into the cattle lands of the plains. The Santa Fe Trail's Raton Pass offshoot brought the initial settlers from the East to join the existing Mexican and Native American populations.

Raton is the county seat. The original county seat was the gold mining town of Elizabethtown. In 1872, after the gold rush in Elizabethtown had died down, the county seat was moved to Cimarron. In 1881, the county seat moved from Cimarron to Springer. In 1897, the county seat moved to Raton.