The Cliff is site of the makeshift abode of Spencer's first permanent settlers of European descent, Samuel Tanner and Sudna (Carpenter) Tanner. The Tanner's daughter, Elizabeth, was also the first white baby born in Roane County around 1812. The Cliff now sits just below the Spencer Middle School.
Sudna Carpenter Tanner was the sister of the first settler of Braxton County, Jeremiah Carpenter, and the aunt of Solomon Carpenter. It is interesting to note that both Jeremiah and Sudna were the first settlers in two separate counties of West Virginia, and both had the first children of European descent to be born in those counties under overhanging rock formations. Samuel Tanner was a Revolutionary War hero and Indian scout.