Clinton is an unincorporated town in Jones County,

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, 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 ...

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

Gray Grey (more frequent in British English) or gray (more frequent in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning that it has no chroma. It is the color of a cloud-covered s ...

. 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 DeWitt Clinton (March 2, 1769February 11, 1828) was an American politician and Naturalism (philosophy), naturalist. He served as a United States Senate, United States senator, as the mayor of New York City, and as the sixth governor of New York. ...

(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 The Georgia General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is bicameral, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. Each of the General Assembly's 236 members serve two-year terms and are directl ...

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 de La Fayette, Marquis de La Fayette (; 6 September 1757 – 20 May 1834), known in the United States as Lafayette (), was a French military officer and politician who volunteered to join the Conti ...

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 university, private, Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's Colleges in the Southern United States, women's college in Macon, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1836, Wesleyan was the fi ...

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 masculine given name of Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle Ages and into the modern era. It is ...

in the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

. This was compounded when the

Central of Georgia Railway The Central of Georgia Railway started as the Central Rail Road and Canal Company in 1833. As a way to better attract investment capital, the railroad changed its name to Central Rail Road and Banking Company of Georgia. This railroad was constr ...

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 – abolitionist leader * John T. Edge - author, former director of the

Southern Foodways Alliance Southern Foodways Alliance (SFA) is an institute of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi, dedicated to the documentation, study and exploration of the foodways of the American South. Member-funded, it stage ...

, and host of the

SEC Network SEC Network (SECN) is an American multinational sports network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which operates the network, through its 80% controlling ownership interest) and Hearst Communications (which hold ...

's show ''TrueSouth''

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)