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
from WikipediaRead it all ↗Before the arrival of European settlers, the present-day Clifton area was part of the hunting grounds used by Algonquin-speaking members of the Dogue tribe. The Dogue lived in villages and towns along the Potomac River and nearby Occoquan River. They carved bowls out of soapstone found in the area.
European settlers composed of Scots merchants created the first nearby port settlement in the mid-1710s on the Potomac River near the present-day Dumfries-Triangle area. Land in the Clifton area began to be settled in the early 18th century.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Finish Clifton’s story
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
0 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🔁Retake an old viewBurnt bridge over Pope's Head, ne…, 1861: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Famous people from Clifton
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Clifton, decade by decade
LOCBurnt bridge over Pope's Head, near Devereux Station, Orang…1861
LOCView on Pope's Head, near burnt bridge, Orange & Alexandria…1861
LOCEmbankment near Union Mills Station, Orange & Alexandria Ra…1861
LOCView on Pope's Head, near burnt bridge, Orange & Alexandria…1861
LOCU.S. Military Railroad Construction Corps repairing Orange …1861Then & now
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as Burnt bridge over Pope's Head, near Devereux Station, Orange & Alexandria Railroad (1861) and it appears here side by side.
🔁 Retake this view · +15Stories next door
nearby towns’ historyFrom the Library of Congress (5). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.