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History · Cliff Township

Cliff Township’s post office opened in 1884, and 17% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1951 on.

1884first post office
0on the National Register
17%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Cliff Township began

When was Cliff Township founded?

1884

The Cliff Township post office opened in 1884, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Cliff (1884) and Ortello (1884), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 154142 years
Founding year: the first Cliff Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Cliff Township’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Cliff Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Cliff Township.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Cliff Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Cliff Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Cliff
1884–1901
Ortello
1884–1906
18801950today
Gone or out of use
Center SchoolschoolCliff Post Officepost officeCliff SchoolschoolDemont SchoolschoolEureka Valley SchoolschoolFairview SchoolschoolMaple Grove SchoolschoolOrtello Post Officepost officeOrtello SchoolschoolSunflower Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Cliff Township
Ortello

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

The story so far

Cliff Township, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Cliff Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Cliff Township is one of thirty-one townships in Custer County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 127 at the 2020 census. A 2021 estimate placed the township's population at 126.

Its first post office opened in 1884. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 115 to 154 (+34%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Cliff Township, 1884 to 1951

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1884Post officeThe Cliff post office opens
  3. 1884Post officeThe Ortello post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1901Post officeThe Cliff post office closes
  6. 1906Post officeThe Ortello post office closes
  7. 1951On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your album
On the map

Cliff Township on the map, 1951 to 1985

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Cliff Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Cliff Township on the 1951 USGS mapCliff Township on the 1985 USGS map1951Callaway NW sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Cliff Township.

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Kilfoil Township2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townTriumph TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townArnold Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townVictoria Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHayes TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Cliff Township’s history

What year was Cliff Township founded?

The Cliff Township post office opened in 1884, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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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). How TownRatings grades history →

From U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.