In 1860 there existed, on the Saginaw Trail approximately midway between the cities of Flint and Saginaw, a small booming community known as Pine Run. The inhabitants of this small village were unaware that within the following year they would give birth to a new town to be located one mile to the west, which would be known as Clio.

Pine forests occupied a large portion of this area, and hundreds of acres of the same valuable timber were standing in its immediate vicinity.  The building of the railways was Clio's opportunity for establishing a new avenue of commerce. The railway would also help to fully develop and establish a strong little town. Clio was already an important trading and manufacturing point for the railways proposed route.  Pine Run was passed over by Pere-Marquette Railroad because of some local Pine Run folks resistance. So instead, they chose the small village of Clio as their railway station. This now put Clio on the map.

Until the building and completion of the Flint and Pere-Marquette Railway in 1861, Clio's history was comparatively uneventful.