A Stroll Through Time
A Downtown Clifton Walking Tour
Start your tour at the corner of 5th Street and North Avenue E.
219 Artisan Market & Workshop 329 West 5th Street
Built in 1945 as Standefer Chevrolet, this property has housed numerous businesses, including Montgomery Wards, Spieler Gallery, and Tha Washhouse. A complete restoration in 2023 created a new home for three local businesses: 219 Artisan Market & Workshop, Major Real Estate, and Tolstoy & Co. Bookshop.
Exit and proceed left along 5th Street.
Corner Drug Cafe, Erik's Barber Shop, and the Screen Door Inn 329 West 5th Street
The original turn-of-the-century building purchased by J.M. Brooks in 1895/1898 was completely destroyed in a fire in 1905. Immediately rebuilt after the fire, the second-floor space served as a boarding house, apartments, beauty shop, radio service shop, and doctor's offices. Following a 2011 renovation, the Screen Door Inn is the first business to occupy the upstairs in more than 50 years. On the ground level, the Corner Drug Cafe is the site of the old Corner Pharmacy, which served Clifton under different names from the late 1800s through the 1960s. Many historic features have been retained including the soda fountain, Italian marble bar, bar stools, and stained glass bar back. Check out the original Corner Drug Pharmacy clock at the Bosque Museum.
Exit and turn left, heading north on Avenue D.
Lady Bugs 126 North Avenue D
After the fire destroyed the original building built around 1890, a new edifice was erected in 1906. For some time it operated as a drug store. From 1946 to 1973, it was a department store owned by Mr. and Mrs. Edgar R. Keeling. The Keelings likely added the unique storefront to the building before selling it to W. B. Bertelsen, Jr. in 1973, who continued using the space as a clothing retailer until 1998. Since then, it's been the site of a Sweet Addictions bakery, Treaty Oak Gallery, and since early 2024, Lady Bugs, a multi-vendor emporium of antiques, gifts, apparel, and accessories.
Texas Luxury + Land 134 North Avenue D
After the 1905 fire that ravaged Avenue D, the building at this address was re-opened in 1906 by local business owner William Connolly as Service Druge. After World War I, Clarence and Homer Carpenter debuted Carpenter Bros. Drugs, which was a town staple for malts, ice cream sodas, and sundaes until the mid-1930s. Before serving as the real estate offices of Texas Luxury + Land, it housed Clifton Buffet, Stomewall Gallery, and Meredith Kate women's boutique.
White Horse Station 142 North Avenue D
Before the 1905 fire, J.F. Gomble ran a dry goods store here. This building, along with Texas Luxury + Land to the south were both the site of Wm. Connolly & Co., but all the remains from that era are the safe and the nameplate at the entrance to the building, misspelling Connolly as Connally. In its century-long run, it's been Gordon's & Ashcraft's variety store, Whitney's Jewelry, Winn's Discount store, the eatery White Horse Station, and the prior home to multi-vendor Lady Bugs.
Cross 3rd Street, and make a left. Proceed for one block.
Market at the Mill 317 West 3rd Street
In 1905, G.A. Poulson shold his lumber yard on this property to P.E. Schow. The property later changed hands, and in 1931, W.H. Dansby built Dansby Feed Mills; a modern feed, pecan, and grain business. Five employees assisted the Dansby men in the tasks of cleaning, buying and selling the products. There were initial building expansions and reconstructions. In the mid-1970s, as local farming slowed, so did business at the Feed Mill. Not wanting to put an end to his family's legacy, Dansby Feed Mills remained open until the passing of Elmo Dansby in 2014. Plank by plank, the structures were removed in 2016, and construction began on Market at the Mill - an event space and multi-vendor decor, vintage, and clothing boutique - which pays homage to the mill by maintaining a similar architectural style to the original agricultural structures.
Make your way back to Avenue D; cross to the opposite side of the street.
The Old Mercantile; Bosque County Emporium 127 & 121 North Avenue D
In 1889, two Norwegian siblings, John & P.E. Schow opened a mercantile; P.E. Schow and Brother. Their younger brother O.E. Schow, Sr. later joined them and the business was renamed P.E. Schow and Bros. Their business was instrumental in developing Clifton. Available goods included groceries, apparel, hardware, housewares, furniture, buggies, and caskets. The east side of the building is adorned with a Mesker Brothers Iron Works Cast Iron storefront. Originally, these embellishments were on both the east and west sides of the building.
In 1915, a former Schow employee, Otto Orbeck, bought the mercantile out of receivership bankruptcy and incorporated it as the Clifton Mercantile Company, which remained with the Orbeck Family until 1979, when they sold to Al Herzog. In 1984, the property was significantly damaged in a fire; the damaged section was demolished and the current live-oak studded courtyard stands in its place. The property was purchased in 1991 by Olaf Harris for his antiques and collectibles business.
BCP Real Estate 215 West 5th Street
On this site in 1904, First National Bank was established by J.W. Rudasil. Then in 1930, Farmers State Bank merged with First National and set up here until 1973 when a new property was built at the busy corner of West 5th Street and State Highway 6. The upper story of the building, now a lofty, 3-bedroom rental, hosted Clifton's Masonic Lodge #360 for decades until 1965. This property has also been Holiday Travel, and a business operated by Tom Parks before currently housing Bosque County Properties Real Estate.
Carefully cross West 5th Street, and take a right across Avenue D
Leon's Floors 302 West 5th Street
Built in 1882, this property is one of the oldest in historic downtown Clifton and is a cornerstone of the district. It has been the home of family-owned and operated Leon's Floors since 1948. In 2022, the owners began a rehabilitation project to remove the vinyl exterior added in the 1950s to reveal the building's original brick facade. Before Leon Prescher purchased the property, Lane's Food Store and Lambert's Grocery and Market were located here.
The Cliftex Theater 306 West 5th Street
Opening in 1916, The Cliftex is the oldest continuously operating movie house in Texas and the only remaining of three theaters in Clifton that were founded by D.C. Caraway in the early 1900s. The original name, "The Queen Theater" was later changed to "Cliftex Talkies." Into the 1950s, the Cliftex owners operated two theaters, one at the current-day site, and "The Gem" on the west side of The Clifton Record newspaper building.
On 5th Gallery 318 West 5th Street
Built circa 1905, this property was home for decades to the Texas Farm Bureau agency. The building has also been home to Haugen's Art in Foods Bakery, Dr. E.J. Haffey's dental office, Evelyn (Fossett)'s Bakery & Coffee Shop, and Mom's Coffee Shop & Bakery, owned by Mrs. B.W. Humphries. In 2023, the two-story limestone structure was beautifully rehabilitated to highlight both its past and its future as a contemporary art gallery.
If you are a Clifton business owner and would like your building added to our walking tour, please email either Erin (Director at Bosque Museum {dot} org) or Hayley (H Sanders at Clifton Texas {dot} us)