Welcome to Colby ...
So far, we found very little information about Colby. The little that we've found leads us believe that the community is historic.<1>
We've added Colby to our Gazetteer with the hope that we can develop more information. If you can help us with Colby, please Contact Us.
Colby would have been located within present day Sullivan County<2>.
While we don't have a date for the founding of Colby, you might consider that their post office opened in 1888.
While the community is gone, the present day location for Colby is 1,440 feet [439 m] above sea level.<3>.
Time Zone: The area where Colby was located is in the Eastern Time Zone (EST/EDT) and observes daylight saving time
The Area Codes where Colby was located: 423 & 729<4>
Communities Also Named Colby ...
Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 13 communities that are also named Colby - they are located in Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Manitoba, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Hampshire, Ohio, Washington and Wisconsin.
For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Colby.
Communities near Colby ...
We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Colby.
- Johnson City
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Johnson City is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnson City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 67,142 people
- Former names for Johnson City:
- Blue Plum Station
- Haynesville
- Johnsons Depot
- Johnsons Tank
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Johnson City <5>
- Kingsport
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Collingwood
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Bristol
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- East Ridge
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- East Ridge is located in Washington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Ridge
- Estimated population in 2014: 21,317 people
- Elizabethton
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Cross
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Cross is located in Sullivan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cross
- Estimated population in 2014: 11,330 people
- Mill Point
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Mill Point is located in Sullivan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mill Point
- Estimated population in 2014: 11,080 people
- Bloomingdale
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Bloomingdale is located in Sullivan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bloomingdale
- Population from the 2010 Census: 9,888 people
- Colonial Heights
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.
We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Colby. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Colby.
Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Colby. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Colby.
We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Colby. See our Newspapers Page for Colby.
Adding Colby to Our Gazetteer ...
We originally found mention of Colby in the GNIS. For more information, see the Referenced GNIS Codes section on our Miscellaneous Page.
From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found (so far) for Colby was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<6>
From that list, the Colby post office opened in 1888. The Colby post office closed in 1903.
For more details, see References and Mentions for Colby.
Footnotes ...
| <1> | We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Colby, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <2> | If you're interested in how the shape of Tennessee's counties, including Sullivan, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries. |
| <3> | The elevation is an estimate for the area around Colby - it will be higher in some places and lower in others. |
| <4> | When there's a risk of an area code running out of phone numbers, an 'Overlay Area Code' is created that has the same geographic boundaries as the existing area code. In this case, the 423 code has been Overlayed with the 729 area code. New phone numbers in the Colby area will be assigned with one of these codes: 423 or 729. As a result, placing a call in the Colby area will require 10-digit dialing (where you enter both the area code and then the phone number). |
| <5> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <6> | A copy of the Blevins & Helbock Post Office list with background information can be found at:
https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/ |