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AHistory
History · Clinton Township

Clinton Township’s post office opened in 1823, and 35% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 94% of U.S. towns · #98 of 593 in Indiana. What drives it

2 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 18 old photos and papers, maps from 1951 on, and the census since 1850.

1823first post office
2on the National Register
35%homes built before 1940
18old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Clinton Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Clinton Township began

When was Clinton Township founded?

1823

The Clinton Township post office opened in 1823, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1829.

First census: 321 in 18502020 census: 8,884203 years

How historic is Clinton Township?

A

More historic than 94% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Clinton Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1829.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Clinton Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Clinton Township is more historic than 94% of U.S. towns, #98 of 593 in Indiana. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its age lowest.

A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Clinton Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1823, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194034.8% of homes (±5.3) · typical IN town 14.4% · U.S. 8.4%ANational Register2 listings, 47 historic buildings, 52.8 per 10,000 residents · typical IN town 7.9 · U.S. 2.4A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 94%
NewerOlder
Indiana towns of 2,500+ (593)Ahead of 84%

Indiana towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Indiana town has 7.9 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Clinton Township’s 52.8 sits above most of its state (75% of Indiana towns have fewer) while its 47 historic buildings outnumber those of 84% 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 (±5.3 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1829 falls in the same era, so the grade doesn’t depend on which one is used.

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 Township’s past

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

Lost villages11 hamlets and corners are still on the map.A town in old photos18 old photos, postcards and papers.Boom and bustPeaked at 10,962 in 1920; 4,831 people lived here in 2020.Deep rootsA post office since 1823: 203 years of Clinton Township.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.

Hamlets and corners on the map
BlanfordCentenaryCrompton HillEasytownFairview ParkKlondykeNeedmoreRhodesSandytownSyndicateTighe
Gone or out of use
Clinton Sand Pitmine
5cemeteries and burying grounds inside Clinton Township
GortonHallJacksonShirleySpangler

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

By decade

Clinton Township, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s18 items
Clinton "Happyland" Pool1908Clinton "Happyland" PoolClinton City High School Exterior1908Clinton City High School ExteriorClinton City High School1908Clinton City High SchoolClinton High School Gymnasium1908Clinton High School GymnasiumClinton High School1908Clinton High SchoolClinton Hotel1908Clinton HotelClinton Indiana Public Library1908Clinton Indiana Public LibraryClinton Junior High School1908Clinton Junior High SchoolClinton Main Street - 1800s1908Clinton Main Street - 1800sClinton Post Office1908Clinton Post OfficeClinton Residential District1908Clinton Residential DistrictClinton Streetcar1908Clinton StreetcarFour Seasons Fountain1908Four Seasons FountainGillis Pharmacy Interior1908Gillis Pharmacy InteriorGillis Pharmacy1908Gillis PharmacyHillcrest Italian Presbyterian Church1908Hillcrest Italian Presbyterian ChurchMain Street1908Main StreetMain Street1908Main Street
1910s–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
People over time

Clinton Township, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,00012,0001850190019502000Peak: 10,962

Peaked at 10,962 in 1920; 4,831 people lived here in 2020.

18 censuses, 1850–2020.

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

The story

How Clinton Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Clinton Township.

Read it all →

The city was established in 1829 and is named for DeWitt Clinton, governor of New York from 1817 to 1823. Many of Clinton's original settlers were immigrants working in coal mines, many from Italy. According to Vermillion County naturalization records, "...from 1856 to 1952... Vermillion County received almost 3,550 new citizens of foreign birth, the largest number coming during the first twelve years of [the 20th] century. Italians accounted for one-third, or 1,178, of the total number who filed Declarations, with Austrians the next largest group (675) and then Scots. At least 77 percent of the Italians were from the northern regions of Italy." This was in contrast to the majority of Italian immigrants to America during this same time period that hailed from southern Italy. Over time, the coal mining industry in Clinton ended but many of the Italian settlers stayed at Clinton.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Clinton Township in 1888

Passages that mention Clinton Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.

In Clinton Township there are three or four saw-mills, besides two in town, and one grist-mill.
Biographical and historical record of Vermillion County, Indiana1888 · page 233Read the page →
Read the text

In Clinton Township there are three or four saw-mills, besides two in town, and one grist-mill.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Timeline

Clinton Township, 1908 to 1951

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1908In the archiveClinton "Happyland" Pool
  3. 1915Post officeThe Blanford post office opens
  4. 1920CensusPopulation peaks at 10,962
  5. 1951On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
On the map

Clinton Township on the map, 1951 to 1986

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

Clinton Township on the 1951 USGS mapClinton Township on the 1978 USGS mapClinton Township on the 1986 USGS map1951Clinton sheet · 1:24,000

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

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.

Clinton "Happyland" Pool
Retake this viewClinton "Happyland" Pool, 1908

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

2 listings protect 47 historic buildings

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

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
47
each building in a district counts

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

Help out

Finish Clinton Township’s story

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewClinton "Happyland" Pool: 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.

Florida Township4 historic placesAFayette Township1 historic placeA−Helt Township3 historic placesAClinton2 historic placesA+

Questions about Clinton Township’s history

What year was Clinton Township founded?

The Clinton Township post office opened in 1823, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1829.

How does Clinton Township rank for history?

Clinton Township is more historic than 94% of U.S. towns, #98 of 593 in Indiana. 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.

How old are the homes in Clinton Township?

35% of Clinton Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.3 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 1955.

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), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.