Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 64% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Most of Clinton was built recently: 10% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1968. Its Register listings are the Hickman County Courthouse and the First Christian Church. Below: maps from 1894 on and the census since 1830.
The Clinton post office opened in 1829, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 64% 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 64% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
Kentucky towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Kentucky town has 29.9 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Clinton’s 17.2 sits near the middle of its state (44% of Kentucky towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% 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.
Peaked at 1,720 in 1980; 1,222 people lived here in 2020.
18 censuses, 1830–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Clinton’s Wikipedia page.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1894Sheet 1 of 2Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
From Wikipedia’s history of Clinton.
Clinton appears to have been named after a riverboat or military captain who was stationed at the location around the time it was settled in the late 1820s. Clinton was incorporated in 1831.
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.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyEvery 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.
The Clinton post office opened in 1829, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Clinton is more historic than 64% of U.S. towns. 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.
Two places: the Hickman County Courthouse (listed 1975) and the First Christian Church (2016).
10% of Clinton’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.6 points), against a typical 5.9% for a Kentucky town; the median home was built in 1968.
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 (3), Wikidata (3), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
2022
2013
2004
