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Welcome to this year’s edition of CLINTON OUR TOWN a guide to services and events in our area
Rock Valley Publishing, the publishers of this booklet and many of the newspapers that cover the happenings in the towns in this Close to Home area, is proud to bring you this comprehensive booklet.
It is an exciting time to be a part of this community; this part of Wisconsin is thriving and growing, yet still keeps the feel of close-knit communities and we are glad you are a part of it. Our goal is to provide you with useful information you can use on an ongoing basis.
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From youth to senior citizens, this area has a lot to offer, with outstanding schools, churches, organizations, park facilities, businesses and much more.
History of Clinton
On the second day of April, 1837, under the guidance of Deacon Chauncey Tuttle, who had visited this section of the country the fall previous, accompanied by “Aunt Amy’s prayers and recipe for making bread,” Dr. Dennis Mills, Milton S. Warner, Charles Tuttle and Wm. S. Murray, started from Meacham’s Grove in Illinois, for some place on or near the Rock River in Wisconsin.
After five days of hard toiling through mud, sloughs and un-bridged rivers and creeks, they arrived at “Blodgett’s Place” (Beloit). It was a cold, rainy day and the only lodging accommodation on the scene was Blodgett’s two-story log house. The only other building was Monsieur Tebo’s shanty occupied by himself and two squaw wives.
On the 8th, the company visited Clinton Township and decided upon locating there. On the 9th, with the aid for Tebo and his little canoe, they re-crossed Turtle Creek with their effects, and commenced a settlement in the name of the Jefferson Prairie Company.
Tuttle, Mills, Warner, Tuttle and Murray had all been residents of Jefferson County, New York and chose the name Jefferson
2023 Clinton, Wisconsin
Prairie in honor of their old home. This first settlement was in the area now known as Clinton Corners, the intersection of Highway X and Highway J. At the first town meeting, the name Clinton was suggested in remembrance of DeWitt Clinton, New York Governor.
Their first shelter consisted of four crutches set in the ground with poles thrown across; a brush heap for a roof and Indian blankets for sides. The floor was made of a wagon box carefully taken to pieces and laid upon the ground and this served every purpose of a hose for eight days and nights. The next business was to cut and haul logs from which a house 12x16 was soon constructed without the use of a single foot of sawed lumber, the building afterwards served as a shelter for many of Clinton’s first residents.
The first white women in the township were Mrs. Stephen E. Downer and Mrs. Daniel Tasker, who, with their husbands visited the prairie in June. Ezekiel Brownell and Adaline Pratt were the first couple married, Joseph S. Pierce, Justice of the Peace officiated. In 1838 Mrs. S.S. Downer gave birth to a daughter, Lucy, the first white child born here.
In the years ’40 and ’41 many settlers added to the numbers already here.
This settlement continued here until 1856 when two railroads, the Racine and Mississippi and the Chicago and Fond du Lac arrived together at a dead heat, both construction crews trying to arrive first so they wouldn’t have the expense of the hardware needed to join their rails to those laid first. The Chicago Road won by ten minutes with 1,000 people on hand to see the outcome.
Clinton thereupon moved to the railroad junction. In 1857 the name was changed to Ogden, supposedly in honor of Wm. B. Ogden, president of the Chicago and Fond du Lac line. Residents didn’t take to the new name and early in 1864 the postal
GENERAL MANAGER: Sue Z. Lange
EDITOR IN CHIEF: Tracy Ouellette
SPECIAL SECTIONS: Melanie Bradley
CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Heather Ruenz
ADVERTISING DIRECTOR: Vicki Vanderwerff
PAGE DESIGN: Jen DeGroot department approved the change back to Clinton. In the meantime, the railroads had continued to call it Clinton Junction. on the cover: Clinton’s historic water tower was built in 1895 by Jacob Miller, a local masonry contractor after a contract had been let for the water works system to Fairbanks Morse & Co. of Chicago the previous year. Constructed of native limestone, it is 59 feet high. The system was put into operation in 1896. The tower is one of two stone water towers in Rock County, the second being located in Beloit. It is located on High St near Allen St. Located at Herb Reffue Park.
This was not the most ideal site for a business district. On an early territorial map of Wisconsin this spot was called Pleasant Lake and residents told of catching 14-pound fish in it. Accounts tell of the terrible struggle to get up Allen Street with empty wagons and it is recalled hearing that fence posts could be driven out of sight in a muddy season.
The first new building constructed in the business area was a “groggery’ which was located near the railroad junction, for the convenience of their men. That same fall, Sidney Allen put up a store and hotel. Mr. Sheldon occupied the hotel and the May brothers of New York, the store.
The town grew rapidly. Dwelling houses of all grades were being built, and three elevators were erected that same year; also an addition to the little schoolhouse, which was already too small. The next summer was a busy one. Mr. Snyder built the Simmons block and Mr. Simmons put in his first stock of goods. P.H. Colegrove built the Taylor House and started a hotel.
Among the pioneer business houses there was Martin and Carpenter, lumber merchants, Weaver and Pierce, grain and cattle dealers, Warner and Irish, dry goods, Mr. Hale supplied the town with meat, Holmes Hammond was available with livery rigs, and Hiram Salisbury provided their horses with shoes.
Located close to the Midwest’s major metropolitan centers, our village is readily accessible by direct expressway routes. Surrounded by fertile farmland, Clinton is picturesque with its beautiful tree-line streets. A community of friendly citizens, boasting a large skilled labor force, an excellent school system, and several areas great for sport and recreation of all kinds, Clinton is an ideal place to call home.
501 Hemenway Place South Beloit, IL (815) 389-3032
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