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BHistory
History · Clifford Township

Clifford Township’s post office opened in 1811, and 20% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 62% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Below: 1 old photo or paper and maps from 1892 on.

1811first post office
0on the National Register
20%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Clifford Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Clifford Township began

When was Clifford Township founded?

1811

The Clifford Township post office opened in 1811, the earliest record of the town by name. Five smaller post offices, Clifford (1811), Dundaff (1820) and Elkdale (1877), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 2,097215 years

How historic is Clifford Township?

B

More historic than 62% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Clifford Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Clifford Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Clifford Township is more historic than 62% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Clifford Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1811, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194020.3% of homes (±7.9) · typical PA town 17.7% · U.S. 8.4%B+National RegisterNo listings counted · typical PA town 2.1 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 62%
NewerOlder

Pennsylvania towns list about as much on the Register as the country (a typical Pennsylvania town has 2.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Clifford Township’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (25% of Pennsylvania 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 B− to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.9 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 Clifford Township’s past

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

Lost villages5 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Clifford Township, and 6 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18924 editions of the USGS map, 1892 to 1994. Watch Clifford Township change.Deep rootsA post office since 1811: 215 years of Clifford Township.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

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

Clifford
1811–1820
Dundaff
1820–1916
Clifford
1851–today
Elkdale
1877–1910
Royal
1884–1913
West Clifford
1913–1915
18101920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
BirchtownCliffordDundaffElkdaleRoyalWest Clifford
Gone or out of use
Carbondale-Clifford Airportairport
5cemeteries and burying grounds inside Clifford Township
BurdickBurdickCliffordDundaffWillow View

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

Help out

Start Clifford Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old view1940 Census Enumeration District Maps -…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Clifford Township on the map, 1892 to 1994

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

Clifford Township on the 1892 USGS mapClifford Township on the 1948 USGS mapClifford Township on the 1969 USGS mapClifford Township on the 1994 USGS map1892Dundaff 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 Clifford Township.

The story

How Clifford Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Clifford Township.

Read it all →

Clifford Township was formed within the original Luzerne County in 1806 from parts of Nicholson Township; Nicholson Township was renamed Lenox Township in 1813.

The new township was named for "a man by the name of Clifford in Philadelphia", with the expectation that this man would pay for the honor of having a town named for him. He did not pay. Clifford Township became a part of Susquehanna County when it was partitioned from Luzerne County on February 21, 1810.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Clifford Township, 1811 to 1916

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1811Post officeThe Clifford post office opens
  3. 1820Post officeThe Clifford post office closes
  4. 1820Post officeThe Dundaff post office opens
  5. 1839Born hereHenry Wilbur Palmer is born here
  6. 1851Post officeThe Clifford post office opens
  7. 1880In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Pennsylvania - Susquehanna County - Clifford - ED…
  8. 1892On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 20th century
  10. 1916Post officeThe Dundaff post office closes
By decade

Clifford Township, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1880s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1880s1 item
1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Pennsylvania - Susquehanna County - Clifford - ED 58-918801940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Pennsylvania …
1890s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Today1 recent
Flickr - Nicholas T - Sidelight (1)2008Flickr - Nicholas T - Sidelight (1)
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Pennsylvania - Susquehanna County - Clifford - ED 58-9
Retake this view1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Pennsylvania - Susquehanna County - Clifford - ED 58-9, 1880

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Clifford Township’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Greenfield TownshipIts storyCLenox TownshipIts storyBForest CityIts storyB−Fell TownshipIts storyBUnion DaleIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHerrick TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townGibson Township1 historic placeAClinton TownshipIts storyB−

Questions about Clifford Township’s history

What year was Clifford Township founded?

The Clifford Township post office opened in 1811, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Clifford Township rank for history?

Clifford Township is more historic than 62% 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 Clifford Township?

20% of Clifford Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.9 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1979.

Memory lane

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

Town Square →
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 (2), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.