Clifton, Virginia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Clifton is a town in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. The population was 185 in the 2000 census, though in 2003 a new community Clifton Heights was made in Clifton, increasing its population to about 210. Currently, the town is around 300 feet above sea level. About 6,000 people live outside of the town.
Clifton is 25.74 miles away from Washington, D.C.
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[edit] History
[edit] 1600s and 1700s
Clifton, Virginia was mainly known as a plantation through out the 1700s. Before then, Native Americans used the current town area as hunting grounds.
[edit] 1800s
Like many plantations in the Confederate States of America during the Civil War, Clifton caught fire and burned. Around the 1840s, the first few homes were built. Clifton was near the Battle of Manassas and, during that time, was known as Devereux Station. A railroad track was built and trains could go in about 20 minutes from Manassas to Clifton. After the Civil War, in 1868, Devereux Station, Virginia became known as Clifton Station. The next year, in 1869, a post office was set up in the town, in what originally was a junction and a railroad. Then, during the 1880s and 1890s, about 15 homes were built in the town.
[edit] 1900s
The General Assembly established a charter on March 9, 1902. During the 1900s, the town was practically at its modern-day size. The first schoolhouse in Clifton was built on a 100-foot hill overlooking the heart of the town. On March 9, 1930, the Clifton General Store caught fire, and a few months later a new general store was built in its place. In the 1940s, two homes were built. In the 1960s, the town started its own holiday of Clifton Day. This celebration continues each year as a town fair with sales each October. In the 1980s and 1990s, the areas around the Town of Clifton grew quickly, with many affluent families moving into the area. To complete the main town, the Clifton Creek House (also known as the RussekRobbins House) was renovated in 1991. In the late 1960s and early 1970s many of the properties in the town were renovated as younger couples moved into town drawn by the timeless appeal of Clifton. The 1980s and 1990s were a time of mass gentrification within the town, whereas the dwindling number of inhabitants from Clifton's rural era were pushed aside by a more affluent group of working professionals who inexorably raised the town's median income from $36,515 in 1975 to $118,915 in 2000. The Town of Clifton became something of a Norman Rockwell painting complete with picket fences and smiling, well dressed neighbors.
[edit] 2000s
There are still many families moving into the area. There have been more and more disputes with contractors and developers over land. (The area of surrounding the Town of Clifton requires all houses in the area to have at least 5 acres of land each, which prevents nearly all development other than luxury single-family homes. This is because of the formation of the Occoquan Watershed in the 1970s that limits development due to ecological concerns.) In 2002, a new community was built on the edge of town called Frog Hill. In the summer of 2002 the former Mayor Jim Chesley had been part of a major controversy involving the placement of beer into a vending machine. Mayor Chesley had denied placing or removing beer from the machine and received major press coverage from the Washington Post. Either way, the vending machine was removed from the Town Hall. In 2006, there was major controversy about demolishing the abandoned Hetzel Home on the corner of Chapel Road and Pendelton Avenue. The building was being rebuilt and a replica home was finished in the Winter of 2007.
The Clifton Homes Tour is run by the Clifton Community Woman's Club and is always held on the third Thursday in May, not August. The Club of approximately 100 members raises money for local charities by hosting a homes tour, silent auction, boutique, and local women's art show and sale.
[edit] Geography
Clifton is located at (38.780047, -77.386408).GR1
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 0.7 km² (0.3 mi²), all land. In reality, however, the town of Clifton is by definition one square mile. Popes Head Creek runs through the Town.
[edit] Demographics
As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there were 185 people, 67 households, and 52 families residing in the town. The population density was 274.7/km² (723.7/mi²). There were 70 housing units at an average density of 104.0/km² (273.8/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 98.92% White, 0.54% Asian, 0.54% from other races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.54% of the population.
There were 67 households out of which 40.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 68.7% were married couples living together, 6.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 20.9% were non-families. 13.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 3.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.76 and the average family size was 3.06.
In the town, the population was spread out with 23.2% under the age of 18, 7.6% from 18 to 24, 32.4% from 25 to 44, 32.4% from 45 to 64, and 4.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 134.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 125.4 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $111,048, and the median income for a family was $117,446. Males had a median income of $62,188 versus $47,500 for females. The per capita income for the town was $47,459. None of the population or families were below the poverty line.
[edit] Communities near Clifton
NOTE: Boldfaced entries are major communities:
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[edit] Climate
Clifton has a warm-temperate climate with cool winters, mild falls and springs, and hot summers. July is usually the warmest, and wettest month. January is usually the coldest month. On average, February is the driest month. The warmest temperature set in Clifton was 104°F on July 2, 1980. The coldest temperature was -8°F set on January 8, 1982.
[edit] 2005
During the year 2005, the warmest temperature was set on July 1, 2005 with a temperature of 101°F. T he coldest temperature was 9°F set on December 13, 2005. Both were less than 10 degrees of breaking a record.
[edit] 2006
The year 2006 had unusually mild weather for January with the average hight that month about 20 degrees above normal. However in September and October, it was unsually cold for this time of year with temperatures running 10-25 degrees below average. The highest recored temperature this year was 96°F on August 2, 2006. The lowestlowest recorded temperature was 8°F which was recored on February 21, 2006.
[edit] 2007
Currently according to Farmer's Almanac, because of El Niño events, it is expected for the early months of 2007 to be above average, but the spring to be cool and wet. The summer to be below average and wet, and fall to be almost normal, although these predictions are 100% accurate.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average daily maximum temperature (nearest °F) | 43 | 46 | 58 | 68 | 77 | 85 | 88 | 87 | 81 | 70 | 59 | 47 | 67 | |
| Mean daily minimum temperature (nearest °F) | 22 | 25 | 33 | 41 | 51 | 60 | 65 | 63 | 56 | 44 | 36 | 21 | 45 | |
| Mean total rainfall (in.) | 2.59 | 2.46 | 2.77 | 2.92 | 3.71 | 3.23 | 3.11 | 3.16 | 3.33 | 3.08 | 3.12 | 2.72 | 36.20 | |
| Source: The Weather Channel | ||||||||||||||
[edit] Education
Clifton currently hosts two elementary schools, Clifton Elementary [1], Union Mill Elementary School, [2], one middle school, Liberty Middle School [3] and one high school, Centreville High School [4]. It is important to note that only Clifton Elementary School is actually within the town's corporate limits. Union Mill ES, Liberty MS, and Centreville HS are about four miles away from the boundaries, but the mailing addresses of all three are in Clifton, with zip code 20124, which is the town of Clifton.
[edit] Points of interest
- All That Glitters
- Baskets & Boughs
- Bunny Man Bridge
- Clifton Baptist Church
- Clifton Presbyterian Church
- Clifton Heights
- Clifton General Store
- Clifton Coffee Mill
- Clifton Saddlery
- Heart in Hand
- The Hermitage Inn
- Noodles & Noggins
[edit] Annual Events
[edit] January
- New Year's Day Celebration
[edit] February
- Lion's Club Pancake Breakfast
[edit] March
[edit] April
- Kids Day
[edit] May
[edit] June
- Clifton Caboose Twilight Run
[edit] July
- Fourth of July Celebration
[edit] August
- Clifton Homes Tour
[edit] September
- Labor Day Car Show
[edit] October
- Clifton Day
- Post Clifton Day Cleanup
[edit] November
- Townwide Cleanup
[edit] December
- Clifton Candlelight Homes Tour
- Clifton Christmas Tree
[edit] External links
- Town of Clifton
- Little Rocky Run
- Union Mill ES
- Clifton ES
- Liberty MS
- Centreville HS
- Maps and aerial photos
- Street map from Google Maps, or Yahoo! Maps, or Windows Live Local
- Satellite image from Google Maps, Windows Live Local, WikiMapia
- Topographic map from TopoZone
- Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
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