Story thread · 2 reports / 2 sources

Reviving a 19th-century lumber hub through art in Clinton, Iowa

suntimes.com · 2h · first reportShare

Regenerative tourism harnesses the power of sustainable travel to transform places and communities for the better. In this series, we look at Midwestern towns and small cities that have leaned into tourism to help lift local economies and create destinations that travelers want to visit. On the Mississippi River, just over 140 miles west of Chicago, Clinton has seen many cycles of boom and bust since its settlement after the Louisiana Purchase. In the 19th century, railroads and ferries were drawn to Clinton, located where the river narrows. Then timber companies bought up vast swathes of Wisconsin and Minnesota and floated logs down the river to Clinton sawmills. Wealthy from lumber, the town claimed the most millionaires per capita in the country in the late 1800s before the upper Midwest was logged out. Agribusiness eventually supplanted them, but in recent years there were significant vacancies and empty lots in the historic downtown, which has 17 buildings listed on the National H