Town: Colfax Louisiana, Grant Parish Louisiana Source: The Colfax Chronicle August 24. 1962, A Grant Parish History by Louis R. Nardini, Sr. Submitted to USGENWEB by. Kay Thompson Brown 250 Dupont Drive Madison Tn 37115 Diggersinc@aol.com ********************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ********************************************** COLFAX LOUISIANA The site which was later to become the town of Colfax has had more or less continuous occupancy by the white man form the year 1756 when, at the land opposite the confluence of the Rigolet De Bon Dieu and the Red River, Etienne Layssard granted permission from Post Du Rapides for his two sons, Jean and Nicholas Layssard, to maintain a trading post there for the Indians of the area. Act 82 of the year 1869 page 79 provided that the Parish of Grant be established and in the same provision the Act designated that a County seat be established opposite the point formed by the Rigolet De Bon Dieu and the Red River. At this site the town of Colfax was laid out and was named Colfax in honor of Schuyler Colfax who was at that time Vice President of the United States, and was later incorporated by Act 56 of the year 1878, page 94 with its boundaries being one half of a mile square with a public square in the center and the town located on the Calhoun Plantation. (The Calhoun Plantation was said to have been before the Civil War, a landed area of 1400 acres with a river frontage of 7 miles and maintained 1000 slaves.) As late as 1814 Dr. John Sibley reported that the Appalachi Indians had at this location 25 huts in which the tribe resided. The first store to open up in Colfax was that of William S. Calhoun in 1867, S. Shakelford built his store in 1868 and the store was also used for Courthouse purposes in 1873. L. H. Levy opened up the third store in 1869 in a brick stagble which had been built by Meredith Calhoun, father of William and the original owner of the Calhoun Plantation. Others were soon to follow in this order; Peter Borland, a negro, who is believed to have opened the first store bya man of his race in both Grant and Winn Parishes, C. S. Curry, C. H. Mumford, A. A. Dean, who already had a store at Fairmont Landing, C. C. Nash, C. K. Teal, John H. McNeely, Joshua Kemp, Lewis and Price, J. V. LaSage, LaCroix and Price and Mrs. Mary L. Crow.