Clinton and the Natchez Trace
The onetime Choctaw Indian agency town of Clinton (pop. 25,179), north of I-20, about 10 mi (24 km) west of Jackson, was renamed in 1828 in honor of New York governor DeWitt Clinton, who oversaw construction of the Erie Canal. It is now a small cotton-growing and shipping center, with a few blocks of “olde towne” around the Baptist-run Mississippi College along Hwy-80 and College Street. In its early years, Clinton sat on the notorious Natchez Trace, now followed by the blissful Natchez Trace Parkway, which runs southwest to Natchez and northeast all the way to Nashville.
Map of the Southern Pacific Route through Mississippi
![Map of Southern Pacific through Mississippi.](jpg/southernpacific_10_08_mississippi-1024x388.jpg)