Clinton, city, seat (1869) of Clinton county, eastern Iowa, U.S. It lies along the Mississippi River (there bridged to Fulton and East Clinton, Illinois), about 40 miles (65 km) north-northeast of Davenport. The original settler, Joseph M. Bartlett, operated a trading store for Native Americans in the 1830s and in 1836 named the site New York. The Iowa Land Company purchased the townsite in 1855 and renamed it for DeWitt Clinton, former governor of New York. Clinton annexed the town of Lyons to the north in 1895 and later added Ringwood and Chancy. Clinton was one of the largest sawmill ...(100 of 213 words)