Founding year: the first Clinton post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Clinton’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Clinton is more historic than 93% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its age lowest.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Clinton’s overall grade.
Few Michigan towns list much on the Register (a typical Michigan town has 0.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Clinton’s 106 sits above most of its state (94% of Michigan towns have fewer) while its 27 historic buildings outnumber those of 81% 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 (±7.2 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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Clinton. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1906Saline 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.
Every building
Clinton, building by building, 1895–1912
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.
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
The story so far
Clinton, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Clinton yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Clinton Township is a civil township of Lenawee County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 3,765 at the 2020 census. The village of Clinton is located within the township. Both the village and township are named in honor of DeWitt Clinton, the governor of New York from 1817 to 1823.
Its first post office opened in 1831. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 2,336 to 2,517 (+8%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Clinton, 1880–1906
Passages that mention Clinton, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Past and present of Clinton County, Michigan1906 · page 531Read the page →
Read the text
Shade and New Haven in Gratiot county were attached to Lebanon township of this county; townships Fulton and Newark of Gratiot were attached to Essex of Clinton, and Washington and North Star townships of Gratiot county were added to Greenbush in Clinton; and Elba and Hamilton townships in Gratiot became a part of Duplain in Clinton. On October 12th,
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Past and present of Clinton County, Michigan1906 · page 470Read the page →
Read the text
following year. Thus from 1833 to and including 1837, every township of Clinton county had its group of pioneers who began at once the task of clearing away forests, building sawmills and grist-mills, driving out their forest enemies, and paving the way for the founding of community and civic life, by establishing homes, in a wilderness almost isolated from the
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Shiawassee and Clinton counties, Michigan1880 · page 28Read the page →
Read the text
An act approved March 31, 1S4S, appropriated six thousand acres of internal improvement lands " for the purpose of improving certain roads in the county of Clinton, as follows, viz. : three thousand acres thereof upon a road to be laid out from the village of De Witt to the village of Mapleton, in the township of Duplain, crossing the line of the Northern Railroad at or near the residence of Stephen W. Downer; also one thousand acres thereof for laying
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Shiawassee and Clinton counties, Michigan1880 · page 410Read the page →
Read the text
The act of the State Legislature organizing the township of De Witt was approved March 23, 1836, and provides : " That the county of Clinton be and the same is hereby set off and organized into a separate township by the name of De Witt, and the first township-meetiug therein shall be held at the dwelling-house of David Scott in said township." As specified in the above act, the townsliip of De Witt early embraced the whole of the county of Clinton.
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.
By decade
No old photos in the archives yet
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
27
each building in a district counts
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Questions about Clinton’s history
What year was Clinton founded?
The Clinton post office opened in 1831, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Clinton rank for history?
Clinton is more historic than 93% 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.
How old are the homes in Clinton?
26% of Clinton’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.2 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1972.
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 U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.
