Clifton’s post office opened in 1875, and 6 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 53% of U.S. towns · #16 of 140 in Arizona. What drives it
Most of Clifton was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1979. 6 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 41 buildings. Below: 9 old photos and papers, maps from 1893 on, and the census since 1890.
Founding year: the first Clifton post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Clifton’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Clifton is more historic than 53% of U.S. towns, #16 of 140 in Arizona. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Clifton’s overall grade.
Few Arizona towns list much on the Register (a typical Arizona town has 0.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Clifton’s 113 sits above most of its state (95% of Arizona towns have fewer) while its 43 historic buildings outnumber those of 84% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.4 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Clifton’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
On the map
Clifton on the map, 1902 to 1997
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Clifton. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1902Clifton sheet · 1:62,500
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Clifton.
Every building
Clifton, building by building, 1893–1914
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1893Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
The story so far
Clifton, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Clifton yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Clifton is a town in and the county seat of Greenlee County, Arizona, United States, along the San Francisco River. As of the 2020 census, Clifton had a population of 3,933. It was a place of the Arizona copper mine strike of 1983. Clifton and Morenci are thought to be an economic area by the Arizona Department of Commerce.
Its first post office opened in 1875. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 3,311 to 3,933 (+19%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Clifton, 1875 to 1936
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
The Clifton post office opened in 1875, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Clifton rank for history?
Clifton is more historic than 53% of U.S. towns, #16 of 140 in Arizona. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Clifton?
6 listings: 2 buildings, among them the Dell Potter Ranch House (listed 1977, the first), 1 historic district, the Clifton Townsite Historic District, with 41 contributing buildings, and 3 structures. 43 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Clifton?
5% of Clifton’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.4 points), against a typical 0.4% for an Arizona town; the median home was built in 1979.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikimedia Commons (14), the Library of Congress (4), the National Register of Historic Places (6), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
1904
1907
1909
1909
1909
1909
2019
2019
2018
2012
2012
2012
2012
2012
2008