Clinton, Ontario

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Clinton is a small community in Ontario, Canada, within the municipality of Central Huron. It was founded in 1831 by Jonas Gibbings and brothers Peter and Stephen Vanderburg and was later named after Sir Henry Clinton. Growth began in 1844 when William Rattenbury laid out plans for a village, and land nearby was bought from Rattenbury and the Gibbings.

Today Clinton has about 3,200 residents. It is known as Canada’s home of radar, with a large radar antenna downtown because of its history with RCAF Station Clinton during World War II. In its early days the town was also called The Corners or Rattenbury Corner. The town was once home to Horatio Hale, a notable ethnologist and anthropologist who helped name many streets; he is buried in the local cemetery.

Clinton developed along the rail line, with a Buffalo and Lake Huron Railway stop established in 1858. The station was later moved to 196 Dunlop Street as a private residence. The town’s first fire department started in 1863. The W. Doherty Piano and Organ Co began in 1868, growing into a large factory after 1875; the factory burned in 1898 but was rebuilt to continue making instruments.

Clinton was incorporated as a town in 1875. It suffered major fires in 1879 and 1907 that destroyed parts of its storefronts and buildings. A notable legal case from Clinton’s history is the 1959 Lynne Harper murder, which led to Stephen Truscott’s wrongful conviction; he was acquitted in 2007.

In 1978, church members protested the removal of three books from high school lists, including The Diviners, The Catcher in the Rye, and Of Mice and Men. The event drew writers like Alice Munro and helped spark ongoing discussions about freedom of expression in libraries.

Clinton sits at the junction of Highways 4 and 8 and County Road 4. Education is overseen by the Avon Maitland District School Board (Central Huron Secondary School and Clinton Public School) and the Huron-Perth Catholic District School Board (St. Anne’s and St. Joseph’s). The private Huron Christian School serves students K–8, and the School On Wheels is displayed in Clinton as a museum about education. The local newspaper is the Clinton News-Record, at 53 Albert Street, founded in 1865 and now owned by Postmedia. Local radio includes 104.9 The Beach.