Editing Clinton, Oklahoma (section)

==History==
The community began in 1899 when two men, J.L. Avant and E.E. Blake, decided to locate a town in the [[Washita River]] Valley.

Because of governmental stipulations that an Indian could sell no more than one half of a {{convert|160|acre|km2|1|adj=on}} allotment, the men made plans to purchase {{convert|320|acre|km2}} from four different Indians (Hays, Shoe-Boy, Nowahy, and Night Killer) and paid them each $2,000 for {{convert|80|acre|m2}} to begin the small settlement of Washita Junction.

Congressional approval for the sale was granted in 1902 and Washita Junction quickly developed.<ref name="ray">[http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/C/CL016.html Clinton] at [http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/ Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100531193517/http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/ |date=May 31, 2010 }} (accessed April 27)</ref> The first businesses were the office of the ''Custer County Chronicle'' newspaper and the First National Bank building. When a post office was started, the postal department would not accept the name of Washita Junction; so the town was named for Judge [[Clinton F. Irwin]].

Early on, Clinton was well-served by railroads: the [[Kansas City, Mexico and Orient Railway]]—which had its depot west of downtown—and both the [[St. Louis–San Francisco Railway]] and the [[Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad]]—which had their combined depot east of downtown.<ref name=Trolley>{{cite book |last=Chandler|first=Allison|date=1980 |title= When Oklahoma Took the Trolley|publisher= Interurbans|page=61-62|isbn=0-916374-35-1}}</ref>  In 1909 a group of Clinton businessmen formed the Clinton Street Railway, which ran straight between the two depots particularly to service transferring passengers.<ref name=Trolley/>  But the line’s single gas-powered railcar proved problematic, and service stopped by 1911.<ref name=Trolley/>  In 1912 the line was electrified and restarted, while the new owners talked of extending the tracks north to the county seat of [[Arapaho, Oklahoma|Arapaho]], and perhaps even further to [[Taloga, Oklahoma|Taloga]].<ref name=Trolley/>  However, a trolley’s collision in 1914 with an SLSF switch engine, killing one passenger and injuring others, caused the line to dissolve under lawsuits, and the rails were dug up and salvaged by 1915 to pay legal fees.<ref name=Trolley/>

Clinton particularly benefited from the presence of [[U.S. Route 66|U.S. Highway 66]]. Like most other cities and towns on Route 66, Clinton was home of tourist businesses including several restaurants, [[café]]s, [[motel]]s and [[filling stations]]. The Pop Hicks Restaurant was once the longest running restaurant on Route 66. It opened in 1936 and closed after a fire in 1999. The [[U.S. Highway 66 Association]], founded 1927 in [[Tulsa, Oklahoma]], curtailed its activity when [[World War II]] rationing of rubber and fuel disrupted leisure travel. After the war, Jack and Gladys Cutberth revived the organization in Clinton, where it promoted the "Main Street of America" from 1947 until it disbanded in the 1980s.<ref name="sonderman">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CKPB9V-QK_kC&pg=PA8 |title=Route 66 in Oklahoma |first1= Jon |last1= Sonderman |first2= Jim |last2= Ross |publisher= Arcadia Publishing| page=8 |date= 2011-12-05| access-date=2012-08-20|isbn=9780738590516}}</ref> Dr. [[Walter S. Mason Jr.]] operated a [[Best Western]] motel (1964–2003) which welcomed [[Elvis Presley]] as an occasional guest in the 1960s.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.usatoday.com/travel/hotels/2003-12-02-motels_x.htm |title=Old-style motels fading out | work= [[USA Today]] |date=2003-12-03 |access-date=2012-08-18}}</ref>

Today, cross-country traffic passes Clinton to the south on [[Interstate 40 in Oklahoma|Interstate 40]], which bypassed the city in 1970.<ref name="sonderman"/> Clinton remains a popular tourist stop as one of the largest [[U.S. Route 66 in Oklahoma|Route 66]] cities between [[Oklahoma City]] and [[Amarillo, Texas]]. Much of the old U.S. 66 route that passed through the city is now designated as an I-40 business loop; the town became home to the first state sponsored [[Oklahoma Route 66 Museum|Route 66 Museum]] in the nation.<ref>{{cite web| url= http://www.okhistory.org/sites/route66 |title= Oklahoma Route 66 Museum| website= OKHistory.org| publisher= Oklahoma Historical Society| location= Clinton, Oklahoma}}</ref>

In 1942, the federal government built a naval airfield at nearby Burns Flat and named it Naval Air Station Clinton.  During the [[World War II]] period, the population of Clinton grew to nearly 7,000 residents.  In 1949, Naval Air Station Clinton was deactivated and the airfield was deeded to the City of Clinton, specifying that the land could be recaptured in case of national emergencies. Later, the government leased the site back and used it as [[Clinton-Sherman Air Force Base]] a bomber base supporting 4123rd Strategic Wing, then the [[70th Intelligence Wing|70th Bombardment Wing]], Heavy of the [[Strategic Air Command]] (SAC), operating [[B-52 Stratofortress]] and [[KC-135 Stratotanker]] aircraft.  Purchasing more land, the site soon expanded to more than {{convert|3500|acre|km2|0}}, where both the [[U.S. Air Force]] and the [[U.S. Navy]] utilized the airfield for both operational and training purposes.  When military operations were de-emphasized, the Clinton-Sherman base was designated for closure in 1969.  The entire complex was deeded to the City of Clinton in 1971 and three years later became the [[Clinton-Sherman Industrial Airpark]].

Clinton is also home to the ''Clinton Daily News'', a five-day [[daily newspaper]] edited by Sean Stephens which has a circulation of 4,500.<ref name="finderbinder">{{cite journal| title= Clinton Daily News| journal= Finder Binder: Oklahoma's Updated Media Directory| date= Winter 2009}}</ref> The newspaper has been published continuously from its inception in 1927 to the current day.<ref>{{cite web| url= http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn93066053/ |title= About this Newspaper: ''Clinton Daily News''| publisher= [[Library of Congress]]| website= chroniclingamerica.loc.gov| access-date= February 25, 2010}}</ref>