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History · Clinton Township

Clinton Township dates to 1836, and 12% of its homes were built before 1940

6 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 10 old photos and papers, maps from 1953 on, and the census since 1870.

1836founded
6on the National Register
12%homes built before 1940
10old 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?

1836

Clinton Township dates its founding to 1836 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1870.

First census: 610 in 18702020 census: 8,785190 years
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1850.The full story ↓

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.

Landmarks on the Register6 places on the National Register.Mystery photos7 old photos have no date. Neighbors can guess the decade.Deep rootsEstablished in 1836: 190 years of Clinton Township.
★ What stands out · On the National Register

6 listings protect 68 historic buildings

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

places listed
6
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
68
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

Start Clinton Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Clinton Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo7 archive items have no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewMerchants' Carnival Portrait Tussey Pho…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Timeline

Clinton Township, 1836 to 1953

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1836
    FoundingClinton Township is established
  3. 1880In the archiveMerchants' Carnival Portrait Tussey Photography Studio, Clinton, Missouri (MET 2024.610.1…
  4. 1896In the archiveBaird College
  5. 20th century
  6. 1907In the archiveM. T. Wood (ALP BIB 536)
  7. 1953On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story

How Clinton Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Clinton Township.

Read it all →

Clinton was laid out in 1836. The city was named for New York Governor DeWitt Clinton, a key promoter of the Erie Canal. A post office called Clinton has been in operation since 1850. The railroad reached Clinton in 1870, when the Census put the population at 840.

Clinton was incorporated as the least-populous type of city in Missouri, a fourth-class city, in 1878. All but one voter voted in favor of incorporation. Resident Banton G. Boone, a Democrat, was Speaker of the Missouri House of Representatives, 1875–1877, and Missouri Attorney General, 1885–1889.

Piped water, electricity, and macadam roads were brought in during the 1880s, and a telephone system in the 1890s.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Clinton Township, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1880s–1900s3 items
Merchants' Carnival Portrait Tussey Photography Studio, Clinton, Missouri (MET 2024.610.138) DP-43423-4111880sMerchants' Carnival Portrait Tussey Photography Studi…Baird College1896Baird CollegeM. T. Wood (ALP BIB 536)1907M. T. Wood (ALP BIB 536)
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
Date unknown7 to date
A picturesque cityDate?A picturesque cityBookHouseDate?HouseJeremiah Chastain Farm, Tightwad vicinityDate?Jeremiah Chastain Farm, Tightwad vicinityPeter Burkhart Farm, Route EEDate?Peter Burkhart Farm, Route EEBethlehem Baptist Church, Route AA & 35 vicinityDate?Bethlehem Baptist Church, Route AA & 35 vicinityGeorge French Farm, Route AA & 35 vicinityDate?George French Farm, Route AA & 35 vicinityJoseph Noble House, Route EE in LaDueDate?Joseph Noble House, Route EE in LaDue
Today2 recent
Henry County Missouri Courthouse 20191026-29742019Henry County Missouri Courthouse 20191026-2974018mo eterm2007018mo eterm
On the map

Clinton Township on the map, 1953 to 1981

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 1953 USGS mapClinton Township on the 1981 USGS map1953Clinton South 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.

Merchants' Carnival Portrait Tussey Photography Studio, Clinton, Missouri (MET 2024.610.138) DP-43423-411
Retake this viewMerchants' Carnival Portrait Tussey Photography Studio, Clinton, Missouri (MET 2024.610.138) DP-43423-411, 1880s

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
People over time

Clinton Township, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 9,311

Between 610 and 9,311 people in every census since 1870.

16 censuses, 1870–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Places now gone

Gone or out of use
Hilty MinemineHilty MinemineIndependence SchoolschoolLima SchoolschoolNew Harmony SchoolschoolRussell Schoolschool

Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Bethlehem TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townFields Creek TownshipIts storyDDavis TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townFairview TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townClinton6 historic placesA−

Questions about Clinton Township’s history

What year was Clinton Township founded?

In 1836, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Clinton Township’s post office opened in 1850, and the census of 1870 counted 610 people here.

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (6), the Library of Congress (6), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.