Pierce County Historical Association Welcome to the Pierce County WI Historical Association
DONATE NOW!
ABOUT US
COUNTY HISTORY
CITY/TOWNSHIP HISTORIES
HISTORY SITES
CALENDAR
PUBLICATIONS
MEMBERSHIPS
RELATED LINKS
CONTACTS
HOME

DOWNLOAD PUBLICATIONS LIST HERE

CLIFTON TOWNSHIP HISTORY

To 1900

On March 3, 1857, four years after the establishment of Pierce County, petitions were presented to the county clerk asking for the creation of a township separate from Elizabeth, one to be named Clifton. The separation was granted and the town's boundaries designated. The first Clifton town board was made up of Chairman George W. McMurphey, Osborne Stahl, and G. W. Teachout. The post office was named Clifton Mills after the town's only settlement. Miller C. B. Cox of that settlement was appointed postmaster.

Established in 1852, Clifton Mills was nestled in and around the Kinnickinnic River gorge through which ran the old Prescott-Hudson Road (now County Road F). The settlement became a primary grain milling site for the area's pioneer farmers until flooding twice destroyed the mill and dam and competing grist mills were built in the villages of Prescott to the south and River Falls to the north. By 1860, residents vacated the settlement.

No other communities sprang up in the township despite the St. Croix River being its western boundary and the mouth of the Kinnickinnic River offering a potential steamboat stop. Decent roads and access to the amenities of the cities of Prescott and Hudson possibly made further settlement unnecessary. Before 1900, two churches and four rural schoolhouses were built. The Wisconsin state census of 1895 showed only 118 heads of household in the entire township.

Economic statistics filed with the county clerk in 1906 showed a harvest of:

Crop Bushels Crop Weight
apples 41 flax fiber 74,000 lbs
barley 73,795 tame hay 2,665 tons
corn 48,865
flaxseed 542
oats 124,133
potatoes 13,537
raspberries 14
rye 14,285
strawberries 26
wheat 5,692
timothy seed 544



Statistics filed in 1907 showed:

Stock/Head Crop/Acres Produce/Lbs
cattle/1,544 wheat/231 butter/80,950
horses/601 corn/3,138
mules/8 flax/1,165
oats/4,476
sheep/1,865 barley/2,757
swine/865 rye/100
potatoes/139
sugar beets/4 ½
apple orchard/24
tobacco/10
hay/2,187
timber/2,405

Source: A. B. Eaton's History of The St. Croix Valley; 1909.

Attendance at rural schools waxed and waned in Clifton through the 1900s. By 19xx, all schoolhouses were closed and students bussed to schools in Oak Grove township, Prescott or River Falls.

Clifton is still a largely agricultural township, although after 1980, the demand for rural/residential properties increased. Businesses in Prescott, River Falls, and Hudson continue to serve the needs of residents.

MORE CLIFTON TOWNSHIP HISTORY
Click on:
Website Design and Hosting By Webteam, Inc.

Copyright © 2008 by the Pierce County Historical Association, Ellsworth, Wisconsin.
All rights reserved. Click here for full copyright statement.