City of Clinton Iowa

Clinton is a city in and the county seat of Clinton County, Iowa. The city was named in honor of the seventh governor of New York, DeWitt Clinton who was largely responsible for the construction of the Erie Canal. Among the first settlers of European origin in the Clinton area was Elijah Buell who established the town of Lyons, named after the French city of the same name. Lyons later merged with Clinton. Between the 1850s and 1900, the cities of Lyons and Clinton quickly became centers of the lumber industry and were regarded as the "Lumber Capital of the World." In the 1880s and 1890s Clinton boasted 13 resident millionaires, more millionaires per capita than any other town or city in the nation. In 2005, Clinton was awarded one of the inaugural Iowa Great Places designations. This award brought to Clinton a $1M state budget allocation for cultural and landscape improvements along the city's riverfront. Major private sector employers in Clinton include: Archer Daniels Midland, Mercy Medical Center, Nestle-Purina, Rock-Tenn Company, Swiss Colony among others. Clinton has many city parks, most notably Eagle Point Park and Riverview Park. The Bickelhaupt Arboretum is a fine, non-profit arboretum with one of North America's largest collections of dwarf conifers. Clinton has its own orchestra, the 50-member Clinton Symphony Orchestra, performing classical concerts throughout the year.