The area was named by Benjamin Ware, a hotelier who developed Clifton with the intention of creating a resort area. His hotel, "Clifton House", was regaled as one of the finest lodgings in the county. In 1884, Ware attempted to subjugate all of Marblehead Neck, and the southeastern coastline of the town, along with his resort community, and form the Town of Clifton Village. The Committee on Towns eventually denied his proposal. Attractions in the area included the Clifton House. There has been no mention as Clifton as a place, and it is not known as a village, formally or informally, by any of the residents in the area.
In 1908 the Clifton Conference, addressing the education of African Americans, was held in Clifton at the home of William N. Hartshorn.[1] A branch of the Portland division of the Boston & Maine Railroad had a station in Clifton in the 1920s. The site of the station can be seen from Clifton Avenue and the track bed is now a bike path that extends from neighboring Swampscott station in the south to Salem in the north.
Theoretically but incorrectly, Clifton feigns to encompass the whole of the southeastern ocean front of Marblehead and incorporates the areas known as Greystone, Clifton Heights (Peabody Camp), Clifton and Rockaway. However, there is no place known as Clifton. There are a number of associations that serve to preserve and improve these neighborhoods: Clifton Improvement Association and Clifton Heights Improvement Association are of particular note for the work they have done.[2]
