History
Coal was discovered near Colchester in the 1850s. One might assume that the town was named "Colchester" because of the coal. The town was, however, named after Colchester, England, before coal was discovered. Moreover, the "col" in "Colchester" is not a reference to "coal".
 The mines in Colchester attracted immigrants from Pennsylvania. At first these included the descendants of Irish Protestant refugees from the Irish Rebellion of 1798. Later they were joined by Irish Catholic refugees from the Irish Potato Famine.
 During the 1920's, Colchester was the home of Henry "Kelly" Wagle, a bootlegger associated with Al Capone. Wagle was involved in the production of alcohol, and transportation between Chicago and Kansas City3.
 On September 11, 1921, members of the disgraced Chicago Black Sox baseball team played with the Colchester team in a game against nearby Macomb. Kelly Wagle paid to bring the players to Colchester45.