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History · Clinton

Clinton’s post office opened in 1885, and 26% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1969 on and the census since 1930.

1885first post office
0on the National Register
26%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Clinton began

When was Clinton founded?

1885

The Clinton post office opened in 1885, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 157 in 19302020 census: 38141 years
Founding year: the first Clinton post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Clinton’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Clinton are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Clinton’s homes were built before 1964.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Clinton’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Clinton came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Clinton.

Read it all →

Clinton got its start in the 1880s when the Fremont, Elkhorn, & Missouri Valley Railroad was extended there, but the town was not incorporated as a village until 1920.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Clinton, 1885 to 1969

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1885Post officeThe Clinton post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1959Post officeThe Clinton post office closes
  5. 1969On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Clinton, decade by decade

Today7 recent
Clinton, Nebraska public school2012Clinton, Nebraska public schoolClinton, Nebraska grain elevators 12012Clinton, Nebraska grain elevators 1Clinton, Nebraska from SW 12012Clinton, Nebraska from SW 1Clinton, Nebraska2012Clinton, NebraskaClinton, Nebraska2012Clinton, NebraskaClinton, Nebraska2012Clinton, NebraskaNEMap-doton-Clinton2005NEMap-doton-Clinton
On the map

Clinton on the map, 1969 to 1985

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

Clinton on the 1969 USGS mapClinton on the 1985 USGS map1969Clinton 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.

People over time

Clinton, census by census

010019401960198020002020Peak: 157

Between 30 and 157 people in every census since 1930.

9 censuses, 1930–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and places now gone

Clinton had its own post office from 1885 to 1959.

Clinton
1885–1959
18801950today
Gone or out of use
Clinton Post Officepost office

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

Questions about Clinton’s history

What year was Clinton founded?

The Clinton post office opened in 1885, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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 (7), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) 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.