Clearfield History

From Sand Ridge to the Freeport Center • Incorporated 1922

Richard and Emily Hamblin settled here in 1877, in a place first called Sand Ridge — renamed Clearfield in the late 1800s, at a schoolteacher’s suggestion, for its clear, unobstructed views. The 1884 Davis and Weber Counties Canal brought the first boom; the city incorporated on July 17, 1922.

Worth Knowing

  • Hill Field: ground broke in January 1940 on what became Hill Air Force Base, transforming Clearfield overnight
  • The Freeport Center: the WWII-era Clearfield Naval Supply Depot became one of the West’s largest manufacturing and distribution hubs
  • The Armadillo: in 2014 Clearfield PD converted a $10 Brinks truck into Utah’s first nuisance-property surveillance vehicle

Source: Utah History Encyclopedia — Clearfield.

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