Clinton, Mississippi, United States of America

Clinton is a city located in Hinds County, Mississippi. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 23,347.

Clinton History

Clinton, founded in 1823 was originally known as Mount Salus. Mount Salus was also the name of the home of Walter Leake, third governor of Mississippi, which was located in Clinton and built in 1812. It is supposedly the first brick house built in the United States. In 1828, the name was changed from Mount Salus to Clinton in honor of Dewitt Clinton, the former governor of New York.

The first road through Mount Salus/Clinton was the Natchez Trace. Currently Clinton has 3 major highways that cut through the city, U.S. Highway 80, U.S. Interstate 20 and the Natchez Trace Parkway.

Mississippi College, which is located in Clinton, is the oldest college in the state of Mississippi, founded January 24, 1826. It was also the first coeducational college in the United States.

Confederate forces, as well as Union troops--both under the command of Ulysses S. Grant and General Sherman--briefly occupied Clinton during the U.S. Civil War on the way to the Battle of Vicksburg in May 1863.

In September 1875, the Clinton Riot occurred in downtown Clinton during a political rally of about 3000 people. The riot was racially and politically motivated, related to the contemporary reconstruction movement under the Republican led U.S. government. There were approximately 50 people killed, mostly African-American, and all Republican. The lack of response from the U.S. government in retaliation signaled the beginning of the end of reconstruction.

During World War II, Camp Clinton was established, a German POW camp south of town which housed about 3,000 German soldiers. Most of the prisoners were from the Afrika Korps. Of the 40 German generals captured in WWII, Camp Clinton housed 35 of them. The German soldiers provided the labor to build a replica model of the Mississippi River Basin for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, used for flood prevention.

Clinton, the smallest city to ever host a Fortune 500 company, was the headquarters for Worldcom in the mid-1990's to late 2002. After its bankruptcy due to the largest accounting scandal in U.S. history and fraud-related convictions of Bernard Ebbers, CEO and Scott Sullivan, CFO, it changed its name to MCI and moved its Corporate Headquarters location to Ashburn, Virginia. MCI and SkyTel still maintain a presence in Clinton.

Clinton Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 62.4 km² (24.1 mi²). 61.7 km² (23.8 mi²) of it is land and 0.6 km² (0.2 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 1.00% water.

Clinton Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there are 23,347 people, 8,328 households, and 6,079 families residing in the city. The population density is 378.1/km² (979.2/mi²). There are 8,899 housing units at an average density of 144.1/km² (373.2/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 74.92% White, 22.53% African American, 0.10% Native American, 1.54% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.26% from other races, and 0.64% from two or more races. 0.87% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There are 8,328 households out of which 35.9% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.0% are married couples living together, 13.8% have a female householder with no husband present, and 27.0% are non-families. 23.1% of all households are made up of individuals and 8.4% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.60 and the average family size is 3.08.

In the city the population is spread out with 24.7% under the age of 18, 14.9% from 18 to 24, 27.6% from 25 to 44, 21.6% from 45 to 64, and 11.2% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 33 years. For every 100 females there are 89.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 84.3 males.

The median income for a household in the city is $47,092, and the median income for a family is $53,482. Males have a median income of $38,194 versus $27,458 for females. The per capita income for the city is $20,586. 8.0% of the population and 5.7% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 9.8% of those under the age of 18 and 11.7% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.

School District

Clinton is regularly ranked as one of the top public school districts in Mississippi, iwth each school's facilities receiving a Level Five rating (highest). The district has a unique setup with one or two grades being split up into different schools until tenth grade, when a student arrives at Clinton High School.

Clinton High School (Grades 10-12)
Sumner Hill School (Grade 9)
Clinton Junior High School (Grades 7-8)
Lovett Elementary (Grade 6)
Eastside Elementary (Grades 4-5)
Northside Elementary (Grades 2-3)
Clinton Park Elementary (Grades K-1)

Clinton High School's athletics teams are known as the Arrows.

Famous People from Clinton, Mississippi

• Mandy Ashford
• Nevada Barr
• Lance Bass
• Jeff Brantley
• George Dale
• Ted DiBiase
• Bernard Ebbers - Worldcom CEO
• Shelly Fairchild
• Marty Frankel
• Barry Hannah

External links

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Clinton,_Mississippi".