Clinton, Mississippi

Clinton is a city in Hinds County, Mississippi, United States. Situated in the Jackson metropolitan area, it is the tenth largest city in Mississippi. The population was 23,347 at the 2000 United States Census.

History
Clinton, founded in 1823 was originally known as Mount Salus, which means "Mountain of health". Mount Salus was also the name of the home of Walter Leake, third governor of Mississippi, which was located in Clinton and built in 1812. In 1828, the name was changed from Mount Salus to Clinton in honor of DeWitt Clinton, the former governor of New York.

The first road through Mount Salus/Clinton was the Natchez Trace. Currently Clinton has three major highways that cut through the city, U.S. Highway 80, Interstate 20 and the Natchez Trace Parkway.

Mississippi College, a Christian university located in Clinton, is the oldest college in the state of Mississippi, founded January 24, 1826. Mississippi College is the second oldest Baptist university in the world, and was also the first coeducational college in the United States to grant a degree to a woman. The historically black institution of higher education for women, Mount Hermon Female Seminary was established in 1875 by Sarah Ann Dickey. It closed in 1924.

Confederate forces, as well as Union troops—both under the command of Ulysses S. Grant and General Sherman—briefly occupied Clinton during the U.S. Civil War on the way to the Battle of Vicksburg in May 1863. Grant, who scored a decisive victory at Vicksburg, mistakenly believed that John C. Pemberton, a Confederate general, would attack him at Clinton.

In September 1875, the Clinton Riot occurred in downtown Clinton during a political rally of about 3000 people. The riot was racially and politically motivated, related to the contemporary Reconstruction movement under the Republican-led U.S. government. Approximately 50 people were killed, mostly African-American, and all Republican. The lack of response from the U.S. government in retaliation signaled the beginning of the end of reconstruction.

During World War II, Camp Clinton was established, a German POW camp south of town which housed about 3,000 German soldiers. Most of the prisoners were from the Afrika Korps. Of the 40 German generals captured in the war, Camp Clinton housed 35 of them. The German soldiers provided the labor to build a replica model of the Mississippi River Basin for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, used for flood prevention.

Clinton, the smallest city to ever host a Fortune 500 company, was the headquarters for WorldCom from the mid-1990s to until 2002. After its bankruptcy due to the largest accounting scandal at the time in U.S. history and fraud-related convictions of Bernard Ebbers, CEO and Scott Sullivan, CFO, it changed its name to MCI and moved its corporate headquarters location to Ashburn, Virginia. Verizon, MCI's successor and which also owns SkyTel (no relation to Bell Mobility's Skytel brand), still occupy the massive formerly WorldCom compound in Clinton.

Clinton is a Certified Mississippi Main Street Community.

Geography
Clinton is located at 32.33944°N, -90.32306°W (32.339545, -90.323038).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 24.1 sqmi, of which, 23.8 sqmi of it is land and 0.2 sqmi of it (1.00%) is water. Clinton's elevation is at 358 feet above sea level.

Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 23,347 people, 8,328 households, and 6,079 families residing in the city. The population density was 979.2 people per square mile (378.1/km²). There were 8,899 housing units at an average density of 373.2 per square mile (144.1/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 74.92% White, 22.53% Black, 0.10% Native American, 1.54% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.26% from other races, and 0.64% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.87% of the population.

There were 8,328 households out of which 35.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.0% were married couples living together, 13.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.0% were non-families. 23.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.60 and the average family size was 3.08.

In the city the population was spread out with 24.7% under the age of 18, 14.9% from 18 to 24, 27.6% from 25 to 44, 21.6% from 45 to 64, and 11.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 89.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.3 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $47,092, and the median income for a family was $53,482. Males had a median income of $38,194 versus $27,458 for females. The per capita income for the city was $20,586. About 5.7% of families and 8.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.8% of those under age 18 and 11.7% of those age 65 or over.

Government
Clinton operates as a Code Charter form of government, divided into six Wards. The local governing body consists of the mayor, one Alderman representing each of the six Wards and one Alderman-at-Large whose duty is to represent the entire community.

As of February 2010, Rosemary G. Aultman is the city's mayor. The Board of Alderman are Tony Hisaw (Ward 1), Tony Greer (Ward 2), Bill Barnett (Ward 3), Kathy Peace (Ward 4), Mike Morgan (Ward 5), Mike Cashion (Ward 6) and Jehu Brabham (Alderman-At-Large).

Economy
At one point WorldCom (now Verizon) was headquartered in Clinton. In 2003 the company announced that it would move its headquarters to Virginia.

Automotive component manufacturer Delphi Corporation operated a plant in Clinton from the early 1970s until its closure in 2009, making cable and wiring connectors. When Delphi closed the plant in late 2009, with the loss of 280 jobs, production moved to Delphi's Warren, Ohio facility.

Public schools
The City of Clinton's public schools are served by the Clinton Public School District.

The Clinton Public School District consists of seven campuses with an enrollment of approximately 5,000 students. It is regularly ranked as one of the top public school districts in Mississippi. Four schools received the state's highest rating of "Level 5" (Superior Performing) based on test scores from the 2005-2006 school year. Two received the second highest rating of "Level 4" (Exemplary). The remaining school, which serves Kindergarten and First Graders, was not assigned a rating, as tests are not administered at these grade levels.

Miscellaneous

 * Career Complex (vocational trade education, part of the Clinton Public School District)
 * Clinton Alternative School (part of the Clinton Public School District)

Colleges

 * Mississippi College
 * http://www.mc.edu

Public high schools

 * Clinton High School (Grades 10 through 12)

Public junior high schools

 * Sumner Hill Junior High School (Grade 9)
 * Clinton Junior High School (Grades 7 and 8)

Elementary schools

 * Lovett Elementary School (Grade 6)
 * Eastside Elementary School (Grades 4 and 5)
 * Northside Elementary School (Grades 2 and 3)
 * Clinton Park Elementary School (Grades K and 1)

Private schools

 * Clinton Christian Academy- Christ-centered school with emphasis on academic excellence, parental involvement, community outreach, athletics, and fine arts. Extracurricular activities include football, baseball, softball, track, show choir, choir, cheerleading, and youth & government. CCA is accredited by the  Mississippi Association of Independent Schools. CCA does not discriminate on the basis of race, gender, or national or ethnic origin.  Classes are available for K3-12th grade.
 * Mt. Salus Christian School - Mt. Salus' enrollment as of 2007 is 315 students, 60% of whom come from Clinton. Of these students 70% are Caucasian, 20% are African-American and 10% are other races. The school is accredited through the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools. Mt. Salus operates two separate campuses: the elementary campus (grades K - 6) and the high school campuis (grades 7 - 12).

Professional sports
The Mississippi Brilla is a pro soccer team competing in the United Soccer Leagues Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, and play in the Mid-South Division of the Southern Conference in 2007, playing against teams from Austin, Baton Rouge, Dallas, El Paso, Laredo and New Orleans. They play their home games at Robert P. Longabaugh Field on the campus of Mississippi College in the city of Clinton.

Noteworthy natives
(see: List of people from Mississippi)
 * Mandy Ashford - singer (member of innosense with Britney Spears), model
 * Lance Bass - pop singer, actor and producer; member of the pop group 'N Sync
 * Richard H. Booth - artist
 * James Dotson Byrd - inventor, developed the plastic used as a heat shield in the NASA Space Program
 * Keith Carlock - drummer for Sting and Steely Dan
 * Phillip Chapman - professional baseball player, Minnesota Twins
 * Chad Chisholm - author and literary critic
 * Robert Chisolm - singer for the band Jonezetta.
 * Cynthia F. Cooper - auditor, whistleblower
 * George Dale - former State of Mississippi Insurance Commissioner
 * Ted DiBiase, Sr. - professional wrestler, minister
 * Ted DiBiase, Jr.- professional wrestler
 * Dominic Douglas- professional football
 * Jenna Edwards - model, former Miss Teen All-American, former Miss Florida
 * Meredith Edwards - country music singer
 * Shelly Fairchild - country music singer
 * Taryn Foshee - 2006 Miss Mississippi
 * Sam Gore - artist, sculptor
 * James E. Graves, Jr. - former Supreme Court of Mississippi judge; current United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit judge
 * Barry Hannah - writer, professor
 * Natalee Holloway - went missing in Aruba after graduating from Mountain Brook High School
 * Alexander Nicholson - War Hero, Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom
 * Jaret Holmes - former Chicago Bears, New York Giants and Jacksonville Jaguars placekicker
 * Daniel Curtis Lee - actor
 * Robert S. McElvaine - writer, professor
 * Malcolm E. McMillin - Hinds County, Mississippi Sheriff and former Jackson Chief of police
 * Chase Quarterman - artist
 * Jeff Savage - Grammy Award Winning  and Dove award winning producer and songwriter (see TobyMac, dcTalk, Jars of Clay, Natalie Imbruglia and Plumb)
 * Scott Savage - former drummer of Grammy and Dove award winning band Jars of Clay
 * Leon Seals - former Buffalo Bills and Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle
 * Wyatt Waters - artist
 * Ruby Jane Smith, bluegrass fiddler