Clinton -- which wasn't named for the president of that name -- was about six miles south of Middletown. It was established at the start of construction of the Miami-Erie Canal, and a post office for canal workers opened May 17, 1826. It was named in honor of Gov. DeWitt Clinton of New York, who had promoted construction of the Erie Canal in that state and who participated in breaking ground for the Ohio canal system in 1825. The Clinton post office was in the home of a Colonel Ayres. It closed Nov. 27, 1827, when canal construction had been completed in the area. Another Ohio town changed its name to Clinton in honor of the "the Father of the Erie Canal." Savannah had been founded in 1816, but became Clinton in 1827 when the Ohio-Erie Canal was constructed through the town in Summit County between Barberton and Massillon. The former community of Clinton in Franklin County is now part of Columbus, and there also is a Clinton in Clinton County east of Wilmington.