In 1829 a little town in Liberty Township was named "Clayville", honoring Henry Clay, the Kentucky statesman. In 1835, Clayville consisted of ten houses and 43 people. The Town of Clayville was platted in 1851 by George W. Wills. The name was changed to "Clayton" in 1858 because another Clayville already existed in Dubois County.
The first two houses in Clayton were built by Thomas Potts and Lewis T. Pounds, and Parker & Foote was the first store. George Wills built the first hotel, and John Miles and James Worrell developed the first flouring mill. The first train passed through in 1852. By the early 1900s, the town had electric service, supplied by the Danville Light, Heat and Power Co.
Passages that mention Clayton, cut from the printed page as they were published.
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 710Read the page →
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In August, 1849, Frank Smith, of Dubuque, and Messrs. Gilbert and Douglas, of Garnavillo, slept for the first time on the site where now stands the village of Clayton. They were then ex¬ amining this point for the purpose of starting a town. Having
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Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
By decade
Clayton, decade by decade
One decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
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 the Library of Congress (6), 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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