The Clinton post office opened in 1811, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Joy (1817), Pishon's Ferry (1844) and Morrison's Corner (1891), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 533 in 18002020 census: 3,370215 years
How historic is Clinton?
B
More historic than 62% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
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 62% of U.S. towns, #109 of 143 in Maine. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Clinton’s overall grade.
Maine towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Maine town has 15.9 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Clinton’s 3.0 sits below most of its state (22% of Maine towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.5 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.
The Town of Clinton was incorporated in 1795, within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts; and, later became Clinton, Maine, on March 15, 1820, when the State of Maine was accepted as a State within the United States of America.
The Town was apparently named after Revolutionary War General, and U.S. vice president, George Clinton. (Note: the Town is not named for Dewitt Clinton, who was born in 1769 and attained his first elective office in the New York state legislature in 1799, several years before becoming New York's governor).
Passages that mention Clinton, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Illustrated history of Kennebec County, Maine1892 · page 1227Read the page →
Read the text
1820-3; the Harris road, from Albion lower road to Winslow, was laid out in 1867: the road from the old Asher Hinds house, on the vSebasticook river road, to the old Smiley house in Winslow, was laid out previous to 1830; the road from Unity road to Clinton line, near John Richardson's house, was laid out in 1852; and the road from the Kennebec river road to the east end of Fairfield bridge was laid out in 1847.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Illustrated history of Kennebec County, Maine1892 · page 1243Read the page →
Read the text
farming district. The soil is a clay loam, yielding rich and abundant crops of hay. The trunk line of the Maine Central railroad runs through the southeastern portion of the town, having a station at Clinton village, where most of the present manufacturing industries — including saw mills, a grist mill, carding mill, tannery, door and sash factory and a boot and shoe factory— are located. Pishon's Ferry, on the Kennebec, is the other principal center of business, a number of saw and grist mills being operated in the neighborhood.
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, 1811 to 2010
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Clinton.
Every building
Clinton, building by building, 1895–1911
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.
1895Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
The Clinton post office opened in 1811, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Clinton rank for history?
Clinton is more historic than 62% of U.S. towns, #109 of 143 in Maine. 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?
One place: the Brown Memorial Library (listed 1975).
How old are the homes in Clinton?
15% of Clinton’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.5 points), against a typical 19% for a Maine town; the median home was built in 1977.
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 (16), the Library of Congress (1), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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.
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