Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Clayton yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Clayton is a city in Clayton County, Iowa, United States. The population was 45 at the 2020 census, down from 55 in 2000. Clayton is located adjacent to the Mississippi River and is only accessible via a steep road.
Clayton was established in 1849. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 43 to 45 (+5%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Clayton, 1882–1916
Passages that mention Clayton, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Clayton County, Iowa1916 · page 84Read the page →
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Clayton — The town of Clayton is the youngest of all the rising towns of Clayton county. It was surveyed in the fall of 1849 — the present site of the town being a dense forest of timber previous to that time. The place is situated on section i, township 93 north, range 3 west ; it is six miles from Garnavillo and fifteen miles from Elkader.
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History of Clayton County, Iowa1916 · page 397Read the page →
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He took an active part in the organization of Clayton County, and held the first justice court within its limits. He was the first clerk of the Board of Clayton County Commissioners, was elected the first School Fund Commissioner, and served one term as a Judge of Probate. In 1850 he took the United States census of the counties of Clayton, Fayette, Winneshiek and Allamakee.
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Portrait and biographical record of Dubuque, Jones and Clayton counties, Iowa. Containing biographical sketches of prominent1894 · page 487Read the page →
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Our subject’s mother, who died in 1891, at the advanced age of eighty years, was before her mar¬ riage Ann G. Gardner. Alexander McGregor in 1847 came to Clayton County, and in that year founded and laid out the present town of McGreg¬ or, in which he continued to make his home until summoned by the death angel on December 12, 1858.
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History of Clayton County, together with sketches of its cities, villages and townships ... biographies of representative citizens1882 · page 613Read the page →
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Mr. Frank Smith and myself purchased one-half dozen apple trees each from an Ohio nursery. He planted his at the foot of the bluff near his residence, and within tenor twelve rods of the Mississippi, in the village of Clayton, and I planted mine on the prairie in the village of Garnavillo; in less than ten years mine were entirely gone; his are still bearing and apparently healthy; same varieties, among which is the rambo. The distance apart in the two local¬ ities, in a direct line, is not more than five miles.
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Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (2), the National Register of Historic Places (1), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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