Clinton County

Officially coming into existence in 1830, Clinton County was named for DeWitt Clinton, the seventh Governor of New York State and the architect of the Erie Canal which truly opened the Upper Midwest to settlement.  The brothers, William, John and Nicholas Pence, who had settled in the county,  donated 60 acres of their land which led to the establishment of the County Seat. The city was platted within those acres. The brothers requested that the name for the city honor their great-grandparents’ home,  Franfurt am Main in Germany, and that was granted as Frankfort became its name. Frankfort has been called the ‘Gem City’ because of its brightness in the new era of electricity.  The city could be seen from miles away.