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History · Clifton

Clifton’s post office opened in 1881, and 69% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 4 old photos and papers and maps from 1947 on.

1881first post office
0on the National Register
69%homes built before 1940
4old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Clifton’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Clifton began

When was Clifton founded?

1881

The Clifton post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 544145 years
Founding year: the first Clifton post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Clifton’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 4 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Clifton’s homes were built before 1938.
★ 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
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old view3 of the sweepers (not the smallest): stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
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 Census-designated place located in Spartanburg County in the U.S. State of South Carolina. According to the 2010 United States census, the population was 541.

Its first post office opened in 1881. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 541 in 2010, 544 in 2020.

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

Timeline

Clifton, 1881 to 1947

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1881Post officeThe Clifton post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1912In the archive3 of the sweepers (not the smallest)
  5. 1947On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Clifton, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s4 items
3 of the sweepers (not the smallest)19123 of the sweepers (not the smallest)Group of young workers1912Group of young workersGroup of young workers1912Group of young workersBirdie[?] Watts and Ellen Watts spinners1912Birdie[?] Watts and Ellen Watts spinners
1920s–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
On the map

Clifton on the map, 1947 to 1983

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

Clifton on the 1947 USGS mapClifton on the 1983 USGS map1947Spartanburg 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.

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.

3 of the sweepers (not the smallest)
Retake this view3 of the sweepers (not the smallest), 1912

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

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

Famous people close to Clifton

Nobody well known was born in Clifton itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Andie MacDowellAmerican actress · b. 1958
C
Celia WestonAmerican actress · b. 1951
L
Lee HaneyAmerican bodybuilder · b. 1959
S
Sam GraddyAmerican football player · b. 1964
David DanielsAmerican opera singer · b. 1966
Gina TollesonMiss World 1990, 1st runner-up to Miss USA 1990 · b. 1969
Places that used to be

Places now gone

Clifton’s post office has been open since 1881.

Gone or out of use
Central Methodist ChurchchurchClifton Elementary SchoolschoolClifton Methodist ChurchchurchClifton Presbyterian Churchchurch

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Converse1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Clifton’s history

What year was Clifton founded?

The Clifton post office opened in 1881, 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 →
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). How TownRatings grades history →

From the Library of Congress (4), 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.