Clifton Beach is situated in the
Djabugay (Tjapukai) traditional
Aboriginal country. Sugar cane farmer William Fairweather laid out an access road to his farm. The
Mulgrave Shire Council at the time named the area after the birthplace of his wife, who was from
Clifton in the
Darling Downs of southern Queensland. Alternatively, it is believed that the suburb was named after Clifton in
Perthshire, Scotland, the birthplace of Mary Hunter Smart, a settler around 1880s. Clifton Beach was officially declared a suburb on 2 May 1959. In 1969, a post office was opened. In the 1970s, construction and road improvements began. By the 1980s, there were three trailer parks and a jellyfish-safe swimming facility. Clifton Beach was a mixture of residential and holiday resort with a rural atmosphere. There are older houses and tourist facilities from this period on Arlington Esplanade running along the beach. A community centre was built a short distance back from the esplanade and local shops sold everyday goods, arts, and crafts. The Wild World Zoo, later called the Cairns Tropical Zoo, opened on the Captain Cook Highway and attracted traffic. In the second half of the 1980s, the population increased by about two-thirds. Growth continued into the 2000s. A middle to upper class suburb emerged with many retirees. The area between the highway and the beach was almost entirely built up, while the other side of the highway, which borders the Kuranda State Forest and accounts for about two-thirds of Clifton Beach, remained largely undeveloped. A shopping centre was built on Captain Cook Highway. A 2004 expansion added a supermarket operated by the national
Coles chain. == Demographics ==