Clinton

Clinton National Bank as it looked in 1908. A bluefish as it appears every year in Clinton, known as the “Bluefish Capital of the World”.

Clinton is bordered by Madison to the west, Westbrook to the east, Killingworth to the north, and lays directly off the Long Island Sound. Like the towns surrounding it, Clinton is steeped in early American history. First home to the hammonasset people, it was purchased from them and established as a plantation for English settlers in 1663. Yale University’s first classes were conducted here. Benjamin Franklin, Colonial Postmaster General, personally determined the site of a Boston Post Road milestone on current Main Street.

In the nineteenth century hundreds of trading ships were built and launched from Clinton’s shipyards. Ponds Extract Company, founded by Theron T. Pond in 1846, processed and bottled witch hazel to create “Pond’s Cream”.  His little company, with its ointments to soothe small cuts and scrapes, grew to the iconic brand in women’s beauty products that it is today.

Clinton has a bustling downtown that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places: the Clinton Village Historic District and the Liberty Green Historic District. However, it is Clinton’s shoreline that really bustles. Known for its summer Bluefish Festival, fishermen frequent the local Clinton Harbor on Cedar Island and Clinton Beach to catch the aforementioned fish. Clinton is known as the bluefish capital of the world.