Clinton, Louisiana

Clinton is a large town in and the parish seat of East Feliciana Parish, Louisiana, United States.Template:GR The town was named for New York Governor DeWitt Clinton. The population was 1,653 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Statistical Area.

History

Several military engagements occurred during the American Civil War about Clinton. Union General Benjamin Grierson occupied Clinton on June 7, 1863, a month before the fall of Vicksburg, Mississippi. Grierson found the town deserted, as Confederates had withdrawn ten miles to the north. According to the historian John D. Winters in The Civil War in Louisiana (1863), the Union "burned a railroad depot, a warehouse containing several hundred hides, a small supply of corn, a machine shop, a locomotive, a crude woolen mill, a cartridge factory, a supply of ammunition, and several barrels of Louisiana rum."

On September 5, 1864, Union General Albert L. Lee left from Baton Rouge to make another raid on Clinton and destroyed a tannery at nearby Greensburg containing two thousand sides of leather. On March 5, 1865, with less than a month remaining in the war, Union General Francis J. Herron moved from Baton Rouge3 toward Clinton and defeated a weak Confederate force. The Federal cavalry pushed twenty miles north of Clinton to discourage remaining Confederate activity in the area.

Geography

Clinton is located at 30°51′47″N 91°0′57″W (30.863050, -91.015789).Template:GR

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 2.8 square miles (7.3 km²), of which, 2.7 square miles (7.0 km²) of it is land and 0.04 square miles (0.10 km²) of it (0.72%) is water.

Demographics

As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there were 1,998 people, 670 households, and 481 families residing in the town. The population density was 729.0 people per square mile (281.5/km²). There were 771 housing units at an average density of 281.3 per square mile (108.6/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 40.74% White, 58.26% African American, 0.05% Native American, 0.15% Asian, 0.10% from other races, and 0.70% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.75% of the population.

There were 670 households out of which 34.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.2% were married couples living together, 26.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.1% were non-families. 26.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.71 and the average family size was 3.30.

In the town the population was spread out with 30.0% under the age of 18, 9.0% from 18 to 24, 27.5% from 25 to 44, 21.8% from 45 to 64, and 11.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 96.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.1 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $27,016, and the median income for a family was $29,444. Males had a median income of $32,500 versus $20,268 for females. The per capita income for the town was $13,353. About 25.3% of families and 33.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 44.6% of those under age 18 and 23.7% of those age 65 or over.

Education

East Feliciana Parish School Board serves Clinton. Public schools within Clinton and serving Clinton include:

• Clinton High School [1]
• Clinton Middle School
• Clinton Elementary School

Silliman Institute is the main private school in the area.

Media

The 2005 film, The Dukes of Hazzard was filmed in and around Clinton.

The 1972 film, Sounder was also filmed in and around Clinton, including locations in East Feliciana and St. Helena parishes.

The Long, Hot Summer, a 1958 film directed by Martin Ritt, starring Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Anthony Franciosa, and Orson Welles, was filmed in and around Clinton. The film is based on stories by William Faulkner.

Some scenes not included in the 1991 picture JFK were filmed in Clinton.

The HBO hit series True Blood currently has a 5-year contract with the town.

A. J. Davidson's crime thriller series has East Feliciana Parish Deputy Sheriff Val Bosanquet as its protagonist and the stories use Clinton as a background. Moon on the Bayou, the third book in the series, was published in August 2012.

External links

• Muting The Call To Service - About volunteers in a school in Clinton