Clinton is an

unincorporated town An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

in Jones County,

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, United States. Formerly the county seat of Jones County, Clinton is located along

Georgia State Route 18 State Route 18 (SR 18) is a state highway that travels west-to-east through portions of Troup, Harris, Meriwether, Pike, Lamar, Monroe, Jones, Wilkinson, and Twiggs counties in the western and central parts of the U.S. state o ...

(and the former US 129) only southwest of the center of

Gray Grey (more common in British English) or gray (more common in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning literally that it is "without color", because it can be composed o ...

. The center of the formerly incorporated town forms the Old Clinton Historic District.

History

Clinton was originally called AlbanyKenneth K. Krakow
"Clinton"
entry in ''Georgia Place-Names: Their History and Origins''. 3rd ed. Winship Press, 1999. p. 46. and served as the first county seat of Jones County,"Jones County, Georgia."
Advisory Council on Historic Preservation website. Retrieved 30 March 2022. which was formed in December 1807 from Baldwin County. The town was renamed Clinton for DeWitt Clinton (1769–1828), the seventh and ninth governor of New York,William Bragg
"Jones County."
''New Georgia Encyclopedia.'' 31 October 2018. or possibly his uncle George Clinton, vice president of the U.S. from 1805 to 1812. It was established as the county seat by the Georgia General Assembly on December 22, 1808. The Georgia General Assembly incorporated the "Town of Clinton" in 1816. A post office called Clinton was established in 1821, and remained in operation until 1924. In the early and middle 1800s, Clinton grew as a center of commerce and the cotton trade, and was one of the most populous cities in Georgia. During this period, impressive homes were constructed and the town was visited by the

Marquis de Lafayette Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette (6 September 1757 – 20 May 1834), known in the United States as Lafayette (, ), was a French aristocrat, freemason and military officer who fought in the American Revolutio ...

during his 1825 tour of the U.S. The Clinton Female Seminary, incorporated in 1821 and established in 1828, was the forerunner of what would become Macon’s

Wesleyan College Wesleyan College is a private, liberal arts women's college in Macon, Georgia. Founded in 1836, Wesleyan was the first college in the world chartered to grant degrees to women. History The school was chartered on December 23, 1836, as the Ge ...

in neighboring Bibb County. Clinton began a period of near-terminal decline first with the destruction of the town in 1864 at the hands of the invading Northern armies of

William T. Sherman William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

in the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

. This was compounded when the Central of Georgia Railway bypassed Clinton in favor of nearby Gray due to local opposition. The county seat of Jones county was moved to Gray in 1905, and Clinton's municipal charter was officially dissolved in 1995 along with those of many other inactive Georgia municipalities. Today, the nucleus of the original residential portion town forms the Old Clinton Historic District (listed in 1974). With . The town's former business district no longer exists.

Geography

Outside of Old Clinton, the town functions much like a suburb of Gray, especially along the four-lane divided Gray Highway (formerly US 129, which now bypasses Clinton and Gray). Small parcels of Clinton along Gray Highway have been formally annexed to Gray.

Culture

Since the late 20th century, the Old Clinton Historic District has been the site of War Days, an event reenacting 19th century life, including the Jones County Civil War battles of Sunshine Church and Griswoldville.

Notable people

Ellen Craft Ellen Craft (1826–1891) and William Craft (September 25, 1824 – January 29, 1900) were American fugitives who were born and enslaved in Macon, Georgia. They escaped to the North in December 1848 by traveling by train and steamboat, arriving ...

– abolitionist leader

References

{{authority control Former municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state) Unincorporated communities in Jones County, Georgia Unincorporated communities in Georgia (U.S. state) Populated places disestablished in 1995 1808 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) Populated places established in 1808 1995 disestablishments in Georgia (U.S. state)