A history of Clifton,
then and now
Postcards, papers and photographs of Clifton from public archives, woven together by decade. Neighbors fill in the gaps.
The story so far
from Wikipedia & the U.S. CensusClifton is a town in and the county seat of Greenlee County, Arizona, United States, along the San Francisco River. As of the 2020 census, Clifton had a population of 3,933. It was a place of the Arizona copper mine strike of 1983. Clifton and Morenci are thought to be an economic area by the Arizona Department of Commerce.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 3,311 to 3,933 (+19%). Half of its homes were built before 1979.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Clifton yet — the old photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Intro from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Population and housing: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
built from the dates on the items belowFinish Clifton’s story
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
1 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🔁Retake an old viewWhere copper is king, 1903: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Famous people from Clifton
See all 1 →Clifton, decade by decade
1990s
6 historic places in Clifton
Clifton has 6 listings on the National Register, and they protect 43 historic buildings, because Clifton Townsite Historic District alone counts 41.
Where they are
Architectural styles
When they were listed
Listed 1988Park Avenue Bridge
Listed 1990Clifton Townsite Historic DistrictListed 1977Dell Potter Ranch HouseListed 1979Clifton Casa Grande BuildingListed 1988Solomonville Road OverpassListed 1988Solomonville Road OverpassThen & now
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as Where copper is king (1903) and it appears here side by side.
🔁 Retake this view · +15Stories next door
nearby towns’ historyFrom Wikimedia Commons (4) and the Library of Congress (2). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.