Clayton’s history is
mostly unwritten
The public archives hold just one old photo of Clayton. The rest are in attics, shoeboxes and the historical society. Help start the collection.
The story
from WikipediaRead it all ↗When the Delaware Railroad built its line south from Bear, Delaware, and through Kent County in 1855, there was a fight over where to run it in relation to Smyrna. Some wanted the rail line to run on the east side of town and others on the west. Farmers located about 1.5 miles to the west of Smyrna were able to entice the Delaware to build there and the stop became known as "Smyrna Station".
In 1861 the state at first planned to, but then later decided not to, change the name of Smyrna Station to Clayton in honor of John M. Clayton who was a supporter of the railroad. Despite the failure to change the name by law, people began to call it Clayton, Delaware.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Start Clayton’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Clayton’s history is told.
0 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🗓️Date a photo1 archive item has no date+2 🔁Retake an old viewHistoric American Buildings Surve…: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Clayton, decade by decade
2000
Then & now
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as Historic American Buildings Survey Cortlandt Van Dyke Hubbard, Photographer June 1960 FRONT ELEVATION - Hoffecker House… and it appears here side by side.
🔁 Retake this view · +15Stories next door
nearby towns’ historyFrom Wikimedia Commons (5). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.