Clinton appears to have been named after a riverboat or military captain who was stationed at the location around the time it was settled in the late 1820s.

[7] U.S. Route 51 passes through the center of town as Washington Street, leading north 30 miles (48 km) to Cairo, Illinois, and south 14 miles (23 km) to Fulton on the Tennessee border.

According to the United States Census Bureau, Clinton has a total area of 1.6 square miles (4.2 km2), of which 0.004 square miles (0.01 km2), or 0.29%, are water.

[2] At the 2000 census there were 1,415 people in 579 households, including 354 families, in the city.

There were 668 housing units at an average density of 405.3 per square mile (156.5/km2).