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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 HISTORYClick on:
- Businesses
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- Churches
- Pioneers
- Schools
- Waterways