History · Clay

Clay’s post office opened in 1878

More historic than 19% of U.S. towns · #125 of 187 in Alabama. What drives it

Most of Clay was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1994. Below: maps from 1905 on and the census since 1990.

1878first post office

0on the National Register

3%homes built before 1940

2famous people

Add an old photo Share a memory

Photo: John Phelan · CC BY-SA 3.0

Quick answers

How Clay began

When was Clay founded?

1878

The Clay post office opened in 1878, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Taylor's (1847), Ayres (1878) and Chalkville (1888), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 10,987 in 19902020 census: 10,291148 years

How historic is Clay?

C⁻

More historic than 19% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓

Founding year: the first Clay post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

History grade

What drives Clay’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Clay is more historic than 19% of U.S. towns, #125 of 187 in Alabama. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

C⁻

HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Clay’s overall grade.

Founding era1878, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC⁺Homes built before 19403.2% of homes (±2.8) · typical AL town 3.2% · U.S. 8.4%C⁻National RegisterNo listings counted · typical AL town 2.7 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C⁻

All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 19%

NewerOlder

Alabama towns of 2,500+ (187)Ahead of 33%

Alabama towns list about as much on the Register as the country (a typical Alabama town has 2.7 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Clay’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (26% of Alabama towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would still be C−. The pre-1940 share (±2.8 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Clay’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Clay, and 9 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Clay are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost half of its people between 1990 and 2000, then more than doubled.On the map since 19053 editions of the USGS map, 1905 to 1970. Watch Clay change.

★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Clay’s post office has been open since 1878. Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Taylor's

1847–1866

Ayres

1878–1901

Clay

1878–today

Chalkville

1888–1901

18401930today

Hamlets and corners on the map

AyresAyres EstatesCandlewood LakesChalkvilleConfederate EstatesCountryside EstatesDogwood EstatesEagle RidgeNear Acres Estates

Gone or out of use

Clay Schoolschool

1cemetery inside Clay

Taylors Chapel

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Start Clay’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Clay’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos

00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s

0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.

Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

People over time

Clay, census by census

Lost half of its people between 1990 and 2000, then more than doubled.

4 censuses, 1990–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Clay’s Wikipedia page.

The story so far

Clay, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Clay yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Clay is a city in northeastern Jefferson County, Alabama, United States. It is part of the Birmingham–Hoover–Cullman Combined Statistical Area in the north-central part of the state. Local government is run by a mayor and city council. As of the 2020 census, Clay had a population of 10,291. Before incorporation on June 6, 2000, it was a census-designated place (CDP). The oldest church in Jefferson County, Mount Calvary Presbyterian Church, is located in Clay. The congregation has been meeting continually since 1806, when it was established by early Scots-American settlers. On January 23, 2012, a total of 231 homes and businesses were either damaged or destroyed when an EF3 tornado passed th…

Its first post office opened in 1878. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 9,708 to 10,291 (+6%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Clay, 1847 to 1995

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

19th century
1847Post officeThe Taylor's post office opens
1866Post officeThe Taylor's post office closes
1878Post officeThe Ayres post office opens
1878Post officeThe Clay post office opens
20th century
1901Post officeThe Ayres post office closes
1905On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
1978Born hereClayne Crawford is born here
1990CensusPopulation peaks at 10,987
1995Born hereHayden Moore is born here

By decade

Clay, decade by decade

Today2 recent

2012City Hall

2004ALMap-doton-Clay

On the map

Clay on the map, 1905 to 1970

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Clay. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

1905Leeds sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Clay.

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Clay

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →

Clayne CrawfordAmerican actor · b. 1978

Hayden MooreCanadian football quarterback · b. 1995

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Trussville1 historic placeB⁺Grayson ValleyIts storyD Pinson3 historic placesB⁻Center PointIts storyD

Questions about Clay’s history

What year was Clay founded?

The Clay post office opened in 1878, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Clay rank for history?

Clay is more historic than 19% of U.S. towns, #125 of 187 in Alabama. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

How old are the homes in Clay?

3% of Clay’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.8 points), against a typical 3.2% for an Alabama town; the median home was built in 1994.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →

Start a conversation

Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

From Wikimedia Commons (2), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.

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