Clinton, Mississippi

Camp Clinton entrance in 1943. The sign reads "Prisoner of War Camp Clinton, Miss."

The Cedars in Clinton is listed on the National Register of Historic Places

City Logo

Founded in 1823, Clinton was originally known as Mount Salus, which means "Mountain of health". It was named for the plantation home of Walter Leake, third governor of Mississippi, which was located in Clinton and built in 1812. The road east from Vicksburg was completed to Mount Salus and the federal government located the district land office at Mount Salus in 1822.[8] The original federal survey in 1822 references a spring called "Swafford's Spring" at the site of the town.[9] In 1828, the city changed its name to Clinton in honor of DeWitt Clinton, the former governor of New York who led completion of the Erie Canal.

The first road through Mount Salus/Clinton was the Natchez Trace, improved from a centuries-old Native American path. Currently Clinton has three major highways that pass through the city: the Natchez Trace Parkway, U.S. Route 80, and Interstate 20.

Mississippi College, a Christian university located in Clinton, is the oldest college in the state of Mississippi. It was founded January 24, 1826 as Hampstead Academy, the second male college in the state after Jefferson College.[10] Mississippi College is the second oldest Baptist university in the world, and was the first coeducational college in the United States to grant a degree to a woman. Clinton is home to sports teams known as the "Clinton Arrows" and "Mississippi College Choctaws". Hillman College, originally for women, was founded in 1853 as Central Female Institute, supported by the Central Baptist Association.[10] It changed its name in 1891. Mount Hermon Female Seminary, a historically black college, was established in 1875 by Sarah Ann Dickey.[10] It closed in 1924 as students moved to co-educational institutions.

The Clinton-Vicksburg Railroad was the second oldest in the state, incorporated in 1831. It contributed to the export of 20,000 bales of cotton annually from this city, the most of any city between Vicksburg and Meridian.[10] Cotton from three surrounding counties was shipped through Clinton and by rail to Grand Gulf on the Mississippi.

During the Civil War, Confederate forces, as well as Union troops— the latter commanded by generals Ulysses S. Grant and Sherman—briefly occupied Clinton on their way to the Battle of Vicksburg in May 1863. Grant had mistakenly believed that John C. Pemberton, a Confederate general, would attack him at Clinton. Grant finally took Vicksburg in this campaign.[11]

In September 1875 during the election campaign, a Republican political rally was held in downtown Clinton, where 3000 people were gathered and expecting Governor Adelbert Ames and other prominent speakers. White insurgents disrupted the rally, attacking blacks in what was called the "Clinton Riot." It resulted in the deaths of several white men and an estimated 50 blacks later that night and over the next few days. More armed whites arrived by train and widely attacked blacks.[10] Among the black victims were schoolteachers, church leaders, and local Republican organizers.[12]

Whites had been attacking black and white Republicans in every election cycle, and that year the paramilitary Red Shirts arose in the state as a force to intimidate blacks and suppress black voting.[12] The governor appealed to the federal government for protection and the U.S. government sent more troops. But election-related violence continued through the fall and, together with fraud at the polls, resulted in white Democrats regaining control of the state legislature and, in 1876, the governor's seat. This political shift signaled the end of the Reconstruction era, confirmed when the federal government withdrew remaining troops in 1877.

According to the 2010 United States Census, the city has a total area of 42.147 square miles (109.16 km²), of which 41.822 square miles (108.32 km²) is land and 0.325 square miles (0.84 km²) is water.[6][14]

Clinton operates as a Code Charter form of government, divided into six Wards. The local governing body consists of the mayor, one Alderman representing each of the six Wards and one Alderman-at-Large whose duty is to represent the entire community.

As of July 3, 2017, Philip R. Fisher, a retired major general in the Mississippi National Guard,[17] is the city's mayor. The Board of Aldermen are Dave Ellis (Ward 1), Jim Martin (Ward 2), Bill Barnett (Ward 3), Keith Perritt (Ward 4), Jan Cossitt (Ward 5), Mike Cashion (Ward 6) and Ricki Garrett (Alderwoman-At-Large).[18]

At one point WorldCom (now Verizon) was headquartered in Clinton. In 2003 the company announced that it would move its headquarters to Virginia.[19][20]

Automotive component manufacturer Delphi Corporation operated a plant in Clinton from the early 1970s until its closure in 2009, making cable and wiring connectors.[21] When Delphi closed the plant in late 2009, with the loss of 280 jobs, production moved to Delphi's Warren, Ohio facility.[21][22]

The Mississippi Brilla is a soccer team competing in the United Soccer Leagues Premier Development League (PDL), a league outside of the American Soccer Pyramid, and play in the Mid-South Division of the Southern Conference. They play their home games at Traceway Park in the city of Clinton.

One of the largest churches in Clinton is the Morrison Heights Baptist Church. [24]

• Niesa Johnson- High School All-American, University of Alabama two time All-American, Professional Basketball Player
• Mandy Ashford – singer, model, and member of Innosense.[25]
• Lance Bass – pop singer, actor and producer; member of the pop group 'N Sync
• William Joel Blass, jurist, legislator, and lawyer
• Charles Hillman Brough, governor of Arkansas from 1917 to 1921, was born in Clinton and taught at Mississippi College there
• Keith Carlock, jazz drummer and Mississippi Musicians Hall of Fame inductee, was born in Clinton in 1971.
• Cynthia F. Cooper – auditor, whistleblower
• Ted DiBiase, Sr. – professional wrestler, minister
• Ted DiBiase, Jr.- professional wrestler
• Dominic Douglas- professional football player
• Bernard Ebbers – a Canadian businessman and the co-founder and CEO of WorldCom.
• Jenna Edwards – model, former Miss Teen All-American, former Miss Florida
• Meredith Edwards – country music singer
• Shelly Fairchild – country music singer
• Taryn Foshee – 2006 Miss Mississippi
• Edgar Godbold – Mississippi College biology professor from 1906 to 1912; later president of two Baptist colleges
• James E. Graves, Jr. – former Supreme Court of Mississippi judge; current United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit judge
• Barry Hannah – writer, professor
• Jaret Holmes – former Chicago Bears, New York Giants and Jacksonville Jaguars placekicker
• Daniel Curtis Lee – actor
• Rory Lee – former vice president and interim president of Mississippi College
• Robert S. McElvaine – writer, professor
• Crystal Renn, plus-size model
• Scott Savage – former drummer of Grammy and Dove award-winning band Jars of Clay
• Leon Seals – former Buffalo Bills and Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle
• Ruby Jane Smith, bluegrass fiddler
• Jerod Ward – Former highly touted basketball recruit and former professional basketball player
• Matthew Gibson -Professional Track Athlete | Accountant

• City website
• Journal entry of German POW General Hermann Bernhard Ramcke regarding his time at Camp Clinton
• US Census Bureau Data on Clinton, Mississippi
• City-Data: Clinton, Mississippi