Colton

History

The town started with a creamery in 1897, made by J. E. Colton. Other businesses started to form around the creamery, making a Main Street. In 1901, the founder started a newspaper called "The Colton Courier" that stayed in place for years. The three other shareowners were W. O. Colton and Dave Crooks, the founder of Colton's Neighboring town, Crooks. Between 1905 and 1906 a railroad was built through Colton, which used to have passenger service. J. E. Colton was 53 years old when he died in 1910. The first Colton school was made in 1879 by the town's founder, J. E. Colton, and was a one-room schoolhouse. From 1903 to 1905 a new, larger schoolhouse was built in place of the old one and began to teach high school subjects. In 1907 a high school was built that was meant to put students through for two years each. It met that goal, but lasted no more than two years, being put out of use in 1909. 1913 started a new four-year high school with six teachers that lasted much longer. Near the end of 1924, a new school was built out of brick. It used the same standard system as the previous school. The school stopped being used in 1967 when the school of Tri-Valley was constructed, which combined the students of several small towns. On June 7th 1993, an F4 tornado passed to the northeast of the town, causing significant damage to several homes and injuring 4

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all land.

Race & ethnicity

Largest nearby schools

• Tri-Valley Elementary - 02
  Elementary · Colton · 352 students · 12.6:1 ratio
• Baltic Elementary - 02
  Elementary · Baltic · 317 students · 16.7:1 ratio
• Tri-Valley Intermediate School - 03
  Middle · Colton · 317 students · 15.8:1 ratio
• Tri-Valley High School - 01
  High · Colton · 276 students · 14.5:1 ratio
• Baltic High School - 01
  High · Baltic · 162 students · 14.7:1 ratio
• Baltic Middle School - 03
  Middle · Baltic · 129 students · 18.4:1 ratio