Clinton, Iowa
Clinton, Iowa
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2286196

Clinton, Iowa

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2286196

Clinton, Iowa

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Clinton, Iowa

Clinton is a city in and the county seat of Clinton County, Iowa, United States. It borders the Mississippi River. The population was 24,469 as of 2020.

Clinton, along with DeWitt (also located in Clinton County), was named in honor of the sixth governor of New York, DeWitt Clinton. Incorporated on January 26, 1857, Clinton is the principal city of the Clinton Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is coterminous with Clinton County.

Elijah Buell, among the first European-American settlers in the Clinton area, established the town of Lyons in 1837. It was named after the French city Lyon. It grew with the lumber and railroad industry through the century, and merged in 1895 with the City of Clinton.

Clinton was platted as the Town of New York in 1836 by Joseph Bartlett. He was looking for gold deposits in the area.

In 1855, the Chicago, Iowa, Nebraska Railroad announced it would build a bridge across the Mississippi River at Little Rock Island. The Iowa Land Company named the town as Clinton, in honor of DeWitt Clinton, governor of New York State. A general city charter was adopted in 1857. Lyons Female College was established in 1858.

Clinton's population grew to more than 1,000 as construction of the bridge continued. In 1859, the railroad line was completed to Cedar Rapids. Fifty years later, the single-track railroad bridge was replaced by a double-track bridge that was completed in 1909.

Between the 1850s and 1900, Lyons and Clinton quickly became centers of the lumber industry and together were regarded as the "Lumber Capital of the World". In the 1880s and 1890s, Clinton boasted more millionaires per capita than any other city in the nation.[citation needed] In 1895, the town of Lyons officially merged with the city of Clinton.

By the end of 1900, the northern forests were depleted and the sawmills closed. The railroad and river, providing economical transportation in all directions, attracted manufacturing and heavy industry. The city still boasts a number of magnificent Victorian mansions built during that time. Among these is the George M. Curtis House.

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