Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1968 on and the census since 1920.
Clifton dates its founding to 1869 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1920.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Clifton’s history is told.
Lost half of its people between 1940 and 1970, then grew 3-fold.
11 censuses, 1920–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Clifton’s Wikipedia page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Clifton.
Clifton was originally settled by Thomas Charles Davis Howell and his sons in the Spring of 1869. A Latter-day Saint branch was organized here with William Jared Pratt as president later that year. A post office was set up in 1870. A ward was organized in 1877.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereHarold B. Lee is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born hereTara Westover is born hereEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Clifton. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Clifton.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
In 1869, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Clifton’s post office opened in 1870, and the census of 1920 counted 234 people here.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (1), Wikipedia, 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) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
2004