Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 77% of U.S. towns · #7 of 123 in Arkansas. What drives it
5 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 56 buildings. Most of Clinton was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1979. Below: maps from 1892 on and the census since 1880.
The Clinton post office opened in 1833, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1879.
More historic than 77% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Clinton is more historic than 77% of U.S. towns, #7 of 123 in Arkansas. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
Arkansas towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Arkansas town has 20.5 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Clinton’s 239 sits above most of its state (98% of Arkansas towns have fewer) while its 60 historic buildings outnumber those of 86% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Clinton’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Clinton. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Clinton.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Clinton.
The city was named for DeWitt Clinton, the New York governor who built the Erie Canal; he had also been a U.S. Senator from New York.
On February 5, 2008, an EF4 tornado struck Clinton during the 2008 Super Tuesday tornado outbreak, killing three people and destroying many homes and businesses, including a boat manufacturing facility.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
2025Clinton AR Mural 2-2025 Wikipedia
2025Clinton AR Downtown 2-2025 Wikipedia
2025Clinton AR Cities Service 2-2025 Wikipedia
2022Natural Bridge in
2020Van Buren County Courthouse Annex in
2016Highway 9 near
2016Clinton, Arkansas 002
2016Clinton, Arkansas 001
2016Clinton Courthouse Square
2008Tornado damage
2008Clinton tornado dentist office damage
2008City ofBetween 166 and 2,602 people in every census since 1880.
12 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Clinton’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Clinton’s post office has been open since 1833.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Clinton post office opened in 1833, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1879.
Clinton is more historic than 77% of U.S. towns, #7 of 123 in Arkansas. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
5 listings: 4 buildings, among them the Van Buren County Courthouse (listed 1991, the first), and 1 historic district, the Clinton Commercial Historic District, with 56 contributing buildings. 60 historic buildings in all.
5% of Clinton’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.6 points), against a typical 3.1% for an Arkansas town; the median home was built in 1979.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikimedia Commons (12), the National Register of Historic Places (5), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
