The story
Read it all →How Clinton came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Clinton.
In mid-2014 the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette opened a large printing plant in Clinton.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
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History · Clinton
Clinton’s post office opened in 1828, and 16% of its homes were built before 1940
Below: maps from 1904 on and old-book passages.
1828first post office
0on the National Register
16%homes built before 1940
2famous people
Quick answers
How Clinton began
When was Clinton founded?
1828
The Clinton post office opened in 1828, the earliest record of the town by name.
2020 census: 905198 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.
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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.On the map
Clinton on the map, 1904 to 1990
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Clinton. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1904Burgettstown sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Clinton.
Timeline
Clinton, 1885 to 1931
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1885Born hereMargaret B. Cole is born here
- 20th century
- 1904
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 1931
Born hereRobert L. Pugh is born here
From the old history books
What they wrote about Clinton, 1883–1892
Passages that mention Clinton, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Historical and biographical work1892 · page 377Read the page →
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REVELTOWN, a deserted mining village of Clinton county, is located at what was known as the Revel Mines, about nine miles from the town of Beech Creek.
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History of Centre and Clinton Counties, Pennsylvania1883 · page 169Read the page →
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valleys. This was the era of borough, county, and township subscriptions, and the year in which that form of improvement mania reached its crisis in time to save the counties of Clinton, Centre, and Blair from a heavy railroad subscription debt. The demands for this method of transportation being such that they could no longer be baffled, and the charter of 1853 not being elastic enough, the passage of the
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History of Centre and Clinton Counties, Pennsylvania1883 · page 529Read the page →
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Irwin's Addition was made in 1859 by Robert Irwin, and includes all that part of the town bounded on the north by Clinton Avenue, on the east by the Western and Southern Additions, on the south by Dudley Blanchard & Co.'s basins, on the west by a line running from the junction of Clinton Avenue and the railroad to a point on Clinton Street near the residence of S. Carroll.
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Historical and biographical work1892 · page 21Read the page →
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The first election in Clinton county was after its organization was held, on the second Tuesday of October, 1839. On this occasion the following officials were elected: Robert Fleming, state senator, for the district comprising the counties of Northumberland, Centre, Clinton and Lycoming. Isaac Bruner and James Laverty were chosen Representatives, to represent the district comprising the counties of Lycoming, Clearfield and Clinton. James
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
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See all →2 famous people were born in Clinton
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Questions about Clinton’s history
What year was Clinton founded?
The Clinton post office opened in 1828, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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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 Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps 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.