Clinton, Ontario

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

Clinton is a town in Ontario, Canada, located in the municipality of Central Huron. Established in 1831, it has a population of 3,117 (2001). 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 car that visited remote Northern Ontario communities to educate children who would otherwise not have access to school, is permanently on display in Clinton.[1]

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.^[1] Hale is interred in the municipal cemetery north of the community.

Clinton is home to 3 elementary schools, Clinton Public School, St.Joseph's School, and the Clinton and District Christian School; and to two high schools, Central Huron Secondary School and St.Anne's Secondary School. Because of its centrality in the county, most students are bussed into the schools from surrounding areas.

Notoriety

The Clinton area was the location of the notorious murder of 12 year old Lynne Harper whose 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 (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) writer, occasional resident of Clinton
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.
Steven Truscott(1945-present) Victim of a miscarriage of justice.