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AHistory
History · Clinton

Clinton’s post office opened in 1838, and 16% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 87% of U.S. towns · #59 of 155 in Connecticut. What drives it

5 places in town are on the National Register, among them three historic districts with 292 buildings between them. Below: 18 old photos and papers, maps from 1893 on, and the census since 1840.

1838first post office
5on the National Register
16%homes built before 1940
18old photos & papers
8famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Clinton’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Clinton began

When was Clinton founded?

1838

The Clinton post office opened in 1838, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Killingworth (1794), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 1,239 in 1840188 years

How historic is Clinton?

A

More historic than 87% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Clinton post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Clinton’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Clinton is more historic than 87% of U.S. towns, #59 of 155 in Connecticut. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.

A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Clinton’s overall grade.
Founding era1838, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194016.4% of homes (±3.1) · typical CT town 15.1% · U.S. 8.4%BNational Register5 listings, 294 historic buildings, 220 per 10,000 residents · typical CT town 73.3 · U.S. 2.4A
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 87%
NewerOlder
Connecticut towns of 2,500+ (155)Ahead of 62%

Connecticut towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Connecticut town has 73.3 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Clinton’s 220 sits above most of its state (77% of Connecticut towns have fewer) while its 294 historic buildings outnumber those of 95% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A− to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.1 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

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 →

What stands out about Clinton’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A historic districtThe Clinton Village Historic District takes in 144 historic buildings.On the map since 18935 editions of the USGS map, 1893 to 1984. Watch Clinton change.A town in old photos18 old photos, postcards and papers, 1881–1953.Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Clinton, and 5 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · On the National Register

5 listings protect 294 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
5
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
294
each building in a district counts
first listed
1985
William Stevens House
William Stevens HouseClinton Village Historic DistrictHubbell Carter HouseHigh Street Historic DistrictCommerce Street Historic District
BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

Colonial2
Federal1
Greek Revival1
William Stevens HouseColonial
Clinton Village Historic DistrictColonial
Hubbell Carter HouseBuilding
All 5 listings
High Street Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2020Commerce Street Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2024

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

On the map

Clinton on the map, 1893 to 1984

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Clinton. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Clinton on the 1893 USGS mapClinton on the 1951 USGS mapClinton on the 1961 USGS mapClinton on the 1970 USGS mapClinton on the 1984 USGS map1893Guilford sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Clinton.

By decade

Clinton, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1950s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1880s–1900s3 items
View of Clinton, Connecticut 18811881View of Clinton, Connecticut 1881Passenger train crossing the Hammonassett River - postcard1907–1915Passenger train crossing the Hammonassett River - pos…PostcardPostcardClintonCTNationalBank19081908PostcardClintonCTNationalBank1908Postcard
1910s–1940snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
1950s15 items
Morgan High School, Clinton, Connecticut. LOC gsc.5a222311953Morgan High School, Clinton, Connecticut. LOC gsc.5a2…Morgan High School, Clinton, Connecticut. LOC gsc.5a222321953Morgan High School, Clinton, Connecticut. LOC gsc.5a2…Morgan High School, Clinton, Connecticut. LOC gsc.5a222331953Morgan High School, Clinton, Connecticut. LOC gsc.5a2…Morgan High School, Clinton, Connecticut. LOC gsc.5a222341953Morgan High School, Clinton, Connecticut. LOC gsc.5a2…Morgan High School, Clinton, Connecticut. LOC gsc.5a222351953Morgan High School, Clinton, Connecticut. LOC gsc.5a2…Morgan High School, Clinton, Connecticut. LOC gsc.5a222361953Morgan High School, Clinton, Connecticut. LOC gsc.5a2…Morgan High School, Clinton, Connecticut. LOC gsc.5a222371953Morgan High School, Clinton, Connecticut. LOC gsc.5a2…Morgan High School, Clinton, Connecticut. LOC gsc.5a222381953Morgan High School, Clinton, Connecticut. LOC gsc.5a2…Morgan High School, Clinton, Connecticut. LOC gsc.5a222391953Morgan High School, Clinton, Connecticut. LOC gsc.5a2…Morgan High School, Clinton, Connecticut. LOC gsc.5a222401953Morgan High School, Clinton, Connecticut. LOC gsc.5a2…Morgan High School, Clinton, Connecticut. LOC gsc.5a222411953Morgan High School, Clinton, Connecticut. LOC gsc.5a2…Morgan High School, Clinton, Connecticut. LOC gsc.5a222421953Morgan High School, Clinton, Connecticut. LOC gsc.5a2…Morgan High School, Clinton, Connecticut. LOC gsc.5a222431953Morgan High School, Clinton, Connecticut. LOC gsc.5a2…Morgan High School, Clinton, Connecticut. LOC gsc.5a222441953Morgan High School, Clinton, Connecticut. LOC gsc.5a2…Morgan High School, Clinton, Connecticut. LOC gsc.5a222451953Morgan High School, Clinton, Connecticut. LOC gsc.5a2…
1960s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
The story

How Clinton came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Clinton.

Read it all →

Clinton traces its history from 1663, when the land was known as Hammonasset, between Guilford and Saybrook, as they were then bounded. A committee was appointed by the General Court at Hartford to lay out this area as a plantation. In 1667, the settlement was designated a town and named Kenilworth; this name became Killingworth by the middle of the eighteenth century, through changes in use. In 1838, the southern portion was incorporated by the General Assembly as the Town of Clinton, the northern portion retaining the name of Killingworth. The town was named after New York Governor DeWitt Clinton. The line between Killingworth and Clinton had also divided the earlier ecclesiastical societies (or school societies) which were established in 1735.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Clinton, 1794 to 1999

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 18th century
  2. 1794Post officeThe Killingworth post office opens
  3. 19th century
  4. 1820Born hereHoratio Wright is born here
  5. 1838Post officeThe Clinton post office opens
  6. 1874Born hereEdwin W. Higgins is born here
  7. 1881In the archiveView of Clinton, Connecticut 1881
  8. 1893On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 20th century
  10. 1904Post officeThe Killingworth post office closes
  11. 1907In the archivePassenger train crossing the Hammonassett River - postcard
  12. 1953In the archiveMorgan High School, Clinton, Connecticut. LOC gsc.5a22231
  13. 1976Born hereErica Hill is born here
  14. 1999Born hereZanagee Artis is born here
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

View of Clinton, Connecticut 1881
Retake this viewView of Clinton, Connecticut 1881, 1881

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Clinton’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Clinton, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,00012,00014,0001850190019502000Peak: 13,260

Between 1,217 and 13,260 people in every census since 1840.

19 censuses, 1840–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Clinton’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

8 famous people were born in Clinton

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Z
Zanagee ArtisUS youth activist and co-founder of Zero Hour · b. 1999
Horatio WrightUnited States Army general · b. 1820
Erica HillAmerican journalist who works for CNN · b. 1976
Edwin W. HigginsAmerican politician · b. 1874
Charles MorganAmerican railroad and shipping magnate · b. 1795
J
Jim CarletonAmerican baseball player · b. 1848
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Clinton’s post office has been open since 1838. Another post office, Killingworth, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Killingworth
1794–1904
Clinton
1838–today
17901910today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Clinton BeachDuck Island RoadsHarbor ViewKelseytownRidgewood
Gone or out of use
Cow Hill Red SchoolschoolFort ConstitutionmilitaryWatersidelocale
1cemetery inside Clinton
Saint Marys

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Finish Clinton’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewView of Clinton, Connecticut 1881: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Madison7 historic placesBKillingworth3 historic placesBWestbrook3 historic placesA

Questions about Clinton’s history

What year was Clinton founded?

The Clinton post office opened in 1838, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Clinton rank for history?

Clinton is more historic than 87% of U.S. towns, #59 of 155 in Connecticut. 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.

What is on the National Register in Clinton?

5 listings: 2 buildings, among them the William Stevens House (listed 1985, the first), and 3 historic districts, the Clinton Village Historic District, the High Street Historic District and the Commerce Street Historic District, with 292 contributing buildings. 294 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Clinton?

16% of Clinton’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.1 points), against a typical 15% for a Connecticut town; the median home was built in 1968.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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 (18), 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.