During the initial months of existence a town known as Albany served as the county seat of Jones County. Albany's exact location is unknown, but it might have been simply renamed Clinton. Clinton was established as the county seat by the Georgia General Assembly on December 22, 1808. Clinton became incorporated as a town in 1816. During the 1800s Clinton grew as a center of commerce and the cotton trade. Clinton remained one of the most populous cities in Georgia in the middle 1800s.