The story
Read it all →How Clifton came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Clifton.
Clifton was founded in 1857. The village takes its name from the Clifton Hotel in Chicago.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
C+History
History · Clifton
Clifton’s post office opened in 1857, and 21% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 42% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: maps from 1944 on and the census since 1880.
1857first post office
0on the National Register
21%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Quick answers
How Clifton began
When was Clifton founded?
1857
The Clifton post office opened in 1857, the earliest record of the town by name.
First census: 474 in 18802020 census: 1,352169 years
How historic is Clifton?
C+
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 42% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Clifton post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Clifton’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Clifton is more historic than 42% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Clifton’s overall grade.
Founding era1857, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194021.1% of homes (±4.9) · typical IL town 10.6% · U.S. 8.4%B+National RegisterNo listings counted · typical IL town 0.5 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 42%
NewerOlder
Few Illinois towns list much on the Register (a typical Illinois town has 0.5 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Clifton’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (28% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% 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 (±4.9 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.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Clifton’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Clifton’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Timeline
Clifton, 1857 to 1968
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1857Post officeThe Clifton post office opens
- 20th century
- 1944
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 1968Born hereDennis Edward Spies is born here
By decade
Clifton, decade by decade
2026
2012
2006On the map
Clifton on the map, 1944 to 1986
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Clifton. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1944Gilman sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Clifton.
People over time
Clifton, census by census
Between 474 and 1,468 people in every census since 1880.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Clifton’s Wikipedia page.
Questions about Clifton’s history
What year was Clifton founded?
The Clifton post office opened in 1857, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Clifton rank for history?
Clifton is more historic than 42% of U.S. towns. 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.
How old are the homes in Clifton?
21% of Clifton’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.9 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1960.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
Start a conversation
Sources
Where this page comes from
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 (3), 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.