During the 1900s, the town was nearly the same size as it is now. The first schoolhouse in Clifton was in Susan Reviere Hetzel's home on Pendleton Avenue. She was also one of the founders of the Daughters of the American Revolution. The school was later moved to the side-yard area of what would later become the home of Mayors Swem Elgin and Jim Chesley. In 1912 a new schoolhouse (built for K-12) was built overlooking the town; it stood until 1952. A new elementary school, Clifton Elementary, was built on the same site in 1953 and served the community until 2010. On March 9, 1930, the Clifton General Store caught fire, and a few months later a new general store was built in its place.