A Brief History
of Clifton, Texas

Although Clifton celebrated its centennial in 1952, the first public buildings were not recorded until the early 1860s. The Clifton post office was established on July 22, 1859.

The Whipple Truss Bridge in Clifton, a Texas Historical Landmark, was built in 1884 by Wrought Iron Bridge Company. Spanning the north Bosque River, the bridge connected "old Clifton" with its present day site. The Whipple Truss Bridge was named for its designer and the Clifton bridge is one of the few remaining in the state.

Clifton's history can be divided into two time periods as well as two geographic locations. "Old Clifton" was established north and east of the present day location. The primary attraction to settlers was the construction of a water mill on the Bosque River shortly after the Civil War. "The Old Mill," as it became known, furnished flour to the City of Waco during Bosque County's early years. Originally constructed of logs, the mill was reconstructed of stone in 1868, and continued to operate as a mill until 1905. For several years afterward it was used as Clifton's electric power plant.

One of Clifton's earliest settlers was Francis Marion Kell, who moved to Bosque County in 1852 and owned much of the land now in the city. A 1,280-acre tract of land near Mr. Kell's was owned by a General Mesina of France, one of Napoleon Bonaparte's marshals. After the general's death, the entire 1,280 acres was offered to Mr. Kell for $50. Kell refused, saying, as did many settlers, that land was too plentiful to be worth much.

The exodus from "old Clifton" to the present-day location one mile south began in 1880 when the Gulf, Colorado, and Santa Fe Railroad bought land from Mr. Kell and built its depot. The railway was completed through this area in 1881, and mass emigration to "new Clifton" began the following spring.

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