John Gottlieb Stiritz, one of the earliest settlers at Clifton Terrace, settled in the area around 1850 as part of the German-American immigration that brought traditions from Germany to the Midwest. The winery there was created by his cousin, Louis Stiritz, who brought grapevines from his home on the Nekar River in Germany and built grape arbors at Clifton Terrace because the setting reminded him of his homeland. Over a 13-year period from 1852 to 1865, Louis built the stone terraces that once rose in rows to the top of the bluff, giving Clifton Terrace its name from their presence along the cliffs. At the base of the terraces, a 30' x 60' wine cellar lined with hand-chiseled arched stones remains. In 1874, with the help of family members, Louis opened the Clifton Inn to serve employees of the St. Louis Cement and Lime Company who worked at a cement plant on Clifton Terrace Road. Later, weekend tourists arrived by paddle-wheel boat for wine, home-cooked meals, and the riverfront countryside, and the winery's Sweet Stiritz Wine became very popular in the St. Louis region. In 1895, H.A. Fisher built a competing hotel along the riverfront directly in front of Clifton Inn, and Louis responded by adding cottages, a large pavilion dance hall, refreshment stands, and picnic tables and benches. Clifton Inn remained quaint while Fisher's more lavish establishment attracted wealthier vacationers until it was destroyed by fire in the early 1900s. Louis Stiritz's three daughters operated Clifton Inn until 1929, after which Kaye and Mike Whitford ran it as the Clifton Terrace Hotel until it was destroyed by fire in 1959. The large two-story hotel stood on the site of the present parking lot of the park, and the Whitfords' nephew, Edmund M. Morrissey, bought the property and owned it until the Village of Godfrey purchased it in 1995.