Clinton Downtown Historic District

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000.

From the record

“Clinton Downtown Historic District is a national historic district located at Clinton, Indiana. The district encompasses 46 contributing buildings, 1 contributing site, and 1 contributing object in the central business district of Clinton.”
Wikipedia article Clinton Downtown Historic District (Clinton, Indiana), CC BY-SA 4.0.

One of 9 National Register listings published here for Vermillion County · listed in 2000 · category: District.

Sources: the Wikipedia article · the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service · the Wikipedia article

The listing

Address. Roughly bet. S. Water and S. Third Sts.; Elm St. to the CRX RR R.O.W., Clinton, 47842
When was it listed? March 2000
Category. district
Township. Clinton township
National Register reference number. 00000205 - the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.

The ground it stands on

8,785 words

The chapter on Clinton Township in Biographical and Historical Record of Vermillion County, Indiana : Containing Portraits of All the Presidents of the United States from Washington to Cleveland, with Accompanying Biographies of Each; a Condensed History of the State of Indiana; Portraits and Biographies of Some of the Prominent Men of the State; Engravings of Prominent Citizens in Vermillion County, with Personal Histories of Many of the Leading Families, and a Concise History of the County and Its Villages, published 1888 names Clinton. This is what it says, exactly as the scans read.

Captain AVilliam Swan was born in Pennsylvania in 1802, settled in Clinton Township in 1823, was a member of the first jury in tlie county, followed the river, making over sixty trips to New Orleans on both rafts and flats, was a Universalist in his religious belief, and a Freemason, and died January 29, 1887, at Clinton.

Passage source: Biographical and Historical Record of Vermillion County, Indiana : Containing Portraits of All the Presidents of the United States from Washington to Cleveland, with Accompanying Biographies of Each; a Condensed History of the State of Indiana; Portraits and Biographies of Some of the Prominent Men of the State; Engravings of Prominent Citizens in Vermillion County, with Personal Histories of Many of the Leading Families, and a Concise History of the County and Its Villages, published 1888.

Benjamin K. Whitcomb, born in Vermont in 1798, and his cousin and business partner, John Whitcomb, came in 1828, .settling in the village of Clinton, where they were among the first merchants, pork packers, etc. John died August 29, 1830, aged forty-one years. Benjamin H. died April 23, 18G1, and his wife, Anna S., died May 21, 1800, at the age of fifty-five and a half years. John R. Whitcoinb, another merchant, born in Ohio in 1804, first settled in Edgar County, Illinois, in 1832, and in the village of Clinton in 1834. He died in March, 1873, leaving a widow (third wife), who is living a half mile west of town. His first wife, Eunice, died May 15, 1832, aged only twentythree years.

Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.

Read the whole chapter on Clinton Township - 8,785 words on its settlement, mills, schools and churches.

Mines and quarries near this property

2 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of Clinton Downtown Historic District: 2 producers. All of them still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where	Site	Commodity	Status	Recorded
	Clinton Sand Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Producer
	D. Robertson Gravel Company Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Producer

Every working recorded in Vermillion County

Storms near this property

42 since 1995

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Clinton, the town this property stands in, in 42 storm reports between 1995 and 2024: 19 thunderstorm wind, 12 hail, 4 flash flood, 4 flood. The reports record 1 injury. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

When	Event	Place named	Harm	What the report says
June 2009	Lightning	Clinton	1 hurt	A woman from Clinton was taken to the hospital for burns after she was struck by lightning. The Daily Clintonian newspaper reported that she was standing under a tree when the event occurred. She was transported to Union Hospital Clinton and later taken, by ground, to Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis for burns.
May 2002	Flash Flood	Clinton	$150,000	no account filed
June 2008	Flash Flood	Clinton	$100,000	Flooded Brouilletts Creek engulfed State Road 63 and washed portion of it away. Rangeline Road had chunks of the road washed out. In Clinton, Feather Creek overflowed its banks and forced residents from their homes. 150 to 175 residents were affected by flooding.
March 2006	Flood	Clinton	$100,000	no account filed
July 2008	Thunderstorm Wind	Clinton	$50,000	Thunderstorm winds uprooted a large tree, which landed on top of a small single-story house near McDonald Lake near Clinton. The impact caused the house to split in half and a female occupant to hit the ceiling before she became entrapped by bedroom furniture. The tree itself landed about 6 feet away from the occupant. A newly purchased cell phone was within reach and she was able to summon help to extricate her from the now uninhabitable dwelling. The tree killed a kitten that she had rescued during June flooding. Another cat was injured. The fire department that has jurisdiction could not reach the house due to other fallen trees blocking the route, thus others had to called in.
June 2007	Lightning	Clinton	$40,000	Lightning struck the Daily Clintonian building in the 400 block of South Main Street. The fire was on the understructure of the roof. Some of the damage included 13 computers.
June 2009	Thunderstorm Wind	Clinton	$20,000	The Daily Clintonian reported thunderstorm wind gust damage in the south end of Clinton. A metal storage building was blown over in the 1500 block of South Fourth Street. Also, a tree was knocked down onto a trailer and house windows were also broken out in the same location. Trees and power lines were reported to be downed across much of southern Vermillion County.
January 2008	Flood	Clinton	$20,000	Flooding occurred along the Wabash River in Vermillion County, including near Clinton, due to heavy rain and snow melt.
June 2008	Flash Flood	Clinton	$20,000	Flash flooding occurred as water covered South Main Street in Clinton due to heavy rain. Flash flooding had damaged numerous homes, buildings, bridges, and roads. Feather Creek flooded.
July 2001	Lightning	Clinton	$20,000	A lightning strike caused damage to equipment at a police station.
June 1998	Thunderstorm Wind	Clinton	$10,000	no account filed
July 2014	Thunderstorm Wind	Clinton	$7,000	Numerous large trees and power lines were downed in this location due to damaging thunderstorm wind gusts.
April 2020	Thunderstorm Wind	Clinton	$5,000	Pictures received via twitter of tree limbs and power limbs downed due to thunderstorm wind gusts.
July 2008	Thunderstorm Wind	Clinton	$5,000	Tree limbs and utility lines were blown down by thunderstorm winds.
December 2006	Flood	Clinton	$5,000	The Wabash River flooded in Vermillion County. Water remained high into January.
December 2006	Flood	Clinton	$5,000	The Wabash River flooded in Vermillion County. The river crested at over 6 feet above flood stage.
July 2009	Thunderstorm Wind	Clinton	$4,000	Trees and power lines were downed by damaging thunderstorm wind gusts.
July 2008	Thunderstorm Wind	Clinton	$2,000	Tree limbs and utility lines were blown down by thunderstorm winds.
February 2008	Thunderstorm Wind	Clinton	$2,000	Numerous trees and power lines were reported down due to damaging thunderstorm winds.
July 2008	Thunderstorm Wind	Clinton	$2,000	Thunderstorm winds blew down 3 trees and a utility line.
August 2007	Thunderstorm Wind	Clinton	$2,000	Trees and limbs were blown down due to damaging thunderstorm winds. Minor structural damage also occurred.
April 2015	Hail	Clinton	-	Hail size was estimated from a picture.
May 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Clinton	-	A 60 mph thunderstorm wind gust was reported in this location. Pea sized hail was also reported.
July 2008	Thunderstorm Wind	Clinton	-	Many streets south of Elm Street were impassable because of downed trees. Firefighters, police, and street department employees worked through the night to clear streets and provide traffic control because of downed power lines. The local Fire Chief estimated that 100 to 200 trees had fallen from the storm. Several homes and cars were hit by trees.
June 2008	Thunderstorm Wind	Clinton	-	Trees were reported down due to damaging thunderstorm winds.
June 2005	Thunderstorm Wind	Clinton	-	Trees and power lines were blown down in Clinton. One tree fell on a house.
June 1995	Thunderstorm Wind	Clinton	-	Winds were reported to 75 mph.
March 2024	Hail	Clinton	-	no account filed
May 2019	Hail	Clinton	-	no account filed
April 2016	Hail	Clinton	-	no account filed
June 2008	Hail	Clinton	-	no account filed
July 2008	Hail	Clinton	-	no account filed
April 2006	Hail	Clinton	-	no account filed
July 2006	Hail	Clinton	-	no account filed
May 2004	Hail	Clinton	-	no account filed
May 2003	Thunderstorm Wind	Clinton	-	no account filed
July 2003	Thunderstorm Wind	Clinton	-	no account filed
July 2003	Hail	Clinton	-	no account filed
April 2002	Flash Flood	Clinton	-	no account filed
May 2000	Hail	Clinton	-	no account filed
August 2000	Thunderstorm Wind	Clinton	-	no account filed
April 1996	Hail	Clinton	-	no account filed

Every storm recorded in Vermillion County

Map coverage status

No historic map-sheet match is published for this property yet. That does not mean no map exists. This record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary. Browse the county's mapped places while that work is pending.

Listed places nearby

2 within 8 miles

Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.

Photograph	Property	Distance	Listed
	Hill Crest Community Center	1.1 miles	1997
	Salem Methodist Episcopal Church	5.0 miles	1979

Sources for this property

National Archives record	The nomination case file for reference 00000205 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia article	Community-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Vermillion County	All 9 listed properties in this county.

Provenance

Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.