Clinton is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

on a peninsula next to Clinton Lake in

Douglas County, Kansas Douglas County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. Its county seat and most populous city is Lawrence. As of the 2020 census, the county population was 118,785, making it the fifth-most populous county in Kansas. The county ...

, United States.

History

Bloomington

The community of Bloomington was settled in June 1854, but was not known as such until April 1855, when Harrison Burson applied to the U.S. Government for a post office. Within eight months of the area being settled, some 530 settlers were in the area that would become Bloomington-Clinton. The people of Bloomington were greatly anti-slavery and helped slaves escape through the

Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was an organized network of secret routes and safe houses used by freedom seekers to escape to the abolitionist Northern United States and Eastern Canada. Enslaved Africans and African Americans escaped from slavery ...

. In early 1857, the northern half of Bloomington was moved to a new location and the southern portion of the community was renamed Winchester.

Winchester

Winchester was named after a city in

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

, as was Bloomington. Later in the year, Bloomington acted to become an incorporated city, with Winchester following suit four days later. Winchester was incorporated on February 20, 1857, under the name of Clinton. The present name is after

Clinton, Illinois Clinton is the largest city and the county seat in DeWitt County, Illinois, United States. The population was 6,898 at the 2023 census. The city and the county are named for DeWitt Clinton, governor of New York, 1817–1823. Clinton Nuclear ...

Clinton

Clinton and Bloomington quickly became rivals, since they were only separated by about three miles. Bloomington started losing ground in 1858 when on August 30, the post office was moved to Clinton. Within the first five years of existence, Clinton constructed two schoolhouses, two churches and a town hall. In 1869, the Clinton Cemetery was established on land already used for a

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite, graveyard, or a green space called a memorial park or memorial garden, is a place where the remains of many death, dead people are burial, buried or otherwise entombed. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek ...

and is considered one of the oldest burial grounds in Douglas County. Wakarusa Valley Museum

The Lawrence & Emporia Railroad was constructed through Bloomington and Clinton in 1873, but its route was soon rendered redundant by larger competing railroads and it was abandoned by 1894. In 1876, most of Bloomington had reverted into farmland and was considered vacated. The post office in Clinton closed in 1927. Starting in the mid-1960s, land was purchased for the construction of Clinton Lake and the entire town of Bloomington was bulldozed, leaving only the J.C. Steele house and a milk shed standing. The house was placed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1979, but was later razed, leaving only the foundations and the stairs. The shed still stands as the Clinton Lake Museum near Bloomington Beach in the Bloomington Recreation Area.

Bleeding Kansas

In August 1856, the Lawrence supply route was cut off and the townspeople were forced to travel to

Lecompton Lecompton (pronounced ) is a city in Douglas County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 588. Lecompton, located on the Kansas River, was the ''de jure'' territorial capital of Kansas from 1855 to 18 ...

which was strongly pro-slavery. Henry Hiatt and several other people were taken prisoner and fifty proslavery ruffians began marching to Bloomington. A team of 400 or 800 men marched toward Lecompton; although a confrontation was avoided, it resulted in the looting and burning of Colonel Henry T. Titus home (known as the Battle of Fort Titus). A splinter group from

William Quantrill William Clarke Quantrill (July 31, 1837 – June 6, 1865) was a Confederate States of America, Confederate guerrilla leader during the American Civil War. Quantrill experienced a turbulent childhood, became a schoolteacher, and joined a group ...

's raid on Lawrence in 1863 rode through Bloomington but caused more damage and harm when passing through Lone Star which is about five miles south of Clinton.

Education

The community is served by Lawrence USD 497 public school district.

References

External links

History of Clinton
* Douglas County maps
CurrentHistoric
KDOT {{Authority control Unincorporated communities in Douglas County, Kansas Unincorporated communities in Kansas 1857 establishments in Kansas Territory