More historic than 17% of U.S. towns · #86 of 119 in Utah. What drives it
Most of Clearfield was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1989. Below: maps from 1955 on and the census since 1900.
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1890.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Clearfield’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Clearfield is more historic than 17% of U.S. towns, #86 of 119 in Utah. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Clearfield’s overall grade.
Utah towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Utah town has 3.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Clearfield’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (18% of Utah 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 D to C−. The pre-1940 share (±1.2 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1877.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 Clearfield’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Clearfield was settled in 1877 by Richard and Emily Hamblin and was originally called Sand Ridge. In 1869, the Utah Central Railroad was built through the area that would latter become the settlement.
There was no water for those early families until wells could be successfully dug. The only water available at first had to be hauled in large barrels from Kays Creek in East Layton. But the great event that did more to transform the bleak Sand Ridge into a fertile garden spot was the coming of the Davis and Weber Counties Canal in 1884. This caused an immediate population boom in the area as people plowed up the sagebrush and cactus, and homes and farms began to appear throughout the area.
In 1877, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Clearfield’s post office opened in 1890, and the census of 1900 counted 640 people here.
How does Clearfield rank for history?
Clearfield is more historic than 17% of U.S. towns, #86 of 119 in Utah. 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 Clearfield?
3% of Clearfield’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.2 points), against a typical 2.8% for an Utah town; the median home was built in 1989.
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 (5), 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.
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