Our History

Article by Jon Harmon

Clio (pronounced "kl-eye-oh", despite what anyone who isn't from Clio might tell you) is a small town nestled between the slightly large cities of Flint and Saginaw, Michigan. Despite its image of being primarily a farm town, it is a normal stop-off point for travelers on one of Michigan's main expressways, I-75, and even a bit of a cultural center.

The former is mostly because of its location. Being located just off of I-75, almost exactly half way between Flint and Saginaw, it gets both the Flint traffic going north, and the Saginaw traffic going south. This has caused a multitude of fast food restaurants to spring to life over the last few years. This has also caused the roads to be improved in the area, to support the influx of hungry travellers.

This latter bit of Clio is what makes it truly special. The Clio Cast and Crew, the local theater group, has led the town in the building of an Art Center and Amphitheater. These attractions bring in many performers every summer. The Cast and Crew also puts on fall and spring plays, and they also have a winter and spring youth production by the Clio Electric Youth Theater, a division of the Clio Cast and Crew.

Clio High School has also been called outstanding, but this has mostly been by the author of this article when realizing when he got to college how amazingly more prepared in calculus and chemistry he was than his fellow students. The Clio High English department is also great.

The meaning of the name "Clio" is lost in history. This is rather ironic, as Clio, pronounced "kl-ee-oh", was the Muse of History.

Since the residents of Clio pronounce it "kl-eye-oh", however, this basis for the origin of the name is unlikely. This leaves room for "humouros" stories of the origin. One such story is based on the fact that Clio rests very near County Line 10 of Michigan on maps. This line is abbreviated CL10. Let me just point out that I sincerely HOPE that this is not where the name came from.