Clinton, Ontario

Coordinates: 43°36′57″N 81°32′22″W / 43.615883°N 81.539454°W / 43.615883; -81.539454

Clinton
Clinton
Coordinates: 43°36′57″N 81°32′22″W / 43.615883°N 81.539454°W / 43.615883; -81.539454
Province	Ontario

Clinton is a community in the Canadian province of Ontario, located in the municipality of Central Huron. Established in 1831, Clinton first began when Jonas Gibbings, Peter and Stephen Vanderburg cleared out a small area to start. Clinton started to grow in 1844 when William Rattenbury laid out the plans to began making a village. In 1954, Clinton's population was 2625 people. Today, it has an estimated population of 3082.^[1]

Clinton is known as Canada's home of radar and has a huge radar antenna in the downtown due to its association with RCAF Station Clinton during World War II. Clinton was known as The Corners or "Rattenbury Corner" in its earlier days.

It was named after Sir Henry Clinton, who distinguished himself during the Peninsular War.

The School on Wheels, a train that visited remote Northern Ontario communities to educate children who would otherwise not have access to school, is permanently on display in Clinton.^[2]

Clinton was the home of the highly influential 19th century ethnologist and anthropologist Horatio Hale, who involved himself locally in real estate development and other business and educational endeavours. Several of the streets in the centre of the town were personally named by him.^[3] Hale is interred in the municipal cemetery north of the community.

Clinton is home to three elementary schools, Clinton Public School, St.Joseph's School, and Huron Christian School (formerly Clinton and District Christian School); and to two high schools, Central Huron Secondary School and St. Anne's Catholic Secondary School. Because of its centrality in the county, most students are bussed into the schools from surrounding areas.

Notoriety

In 1959, the Clinton area was shocked by the murder of 12-year-old Lynne Harper. Her remains were discovered in a local woodlot near RCAF Station Clinton on June 11, 1959. A local youth, Stephen Truscott (aged 14 years at the time) was falsely convicted of the crime and sentenced to be executed. After a 48-year struggle to clear his name, Truscott was finally acquitted by the Ontario Court of Appeal on August 28, 2007.

Notable persons

• Gregory Gallant, pen name Seth, (born 1962) comic book artist and writer
• Horatio Hale (1817–1896) influential early ethnologist and anthropologist
• James Mellon Menzies (1885–1957) missionary and archaeologist in China (1911–1936) noted for his pioneering study of late Shang Dynasty (1300-1050 B.C.) oracle bones
• John Muirhead (1877–1954) politician Manitoba, Canada
• Alice Munro (born 1931) award-winning short story author and 2009 winner of the Man Booker International Prize
• William Mustard (1914–1987) innovative cardiac surgeon
• Joseph Whitehead (1814–1894) Canadian railway pioneer and political figure, former mayor of Clinton, area's first MP.
• Ryan O'Reilly (ice hockey) (born 1991) Canadian hockey player with the Colorado Avalanche.

Transportation

Clinton is at the junction of Highway 4, Highway 8 and County Road 4.

Clinton is served by the North Link scheduled bus service to Owen Sound and London, operated by Aboutown Transportation.

Media

The local paper of Clinton is the Clinton News Record located at 53 Albert Street. The local radio station is 104.9 The Beach www.1049thebeach.ca out of Goderich

References

1. ^ [1]
2. ^ [2]
3. ^ "Dictionary of Canadian Biography online". http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?&id_nbr=6139. 

External links

• Clinton News Record paper

	Goderich	Auburn	Blyth
	Lake Huron		Monkton
		Clinton, Ontario
	Bayfield Bluewater	Exeter, Ontario 80km south London, Ontario	Seaforth Mitchell

"Huron County In Pioneer Times" By Scott, James, 1954.