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History · Clayton

Clayton’s post office opened in 1894

Most of Clayton was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1965. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1939 on, and the census since 1950.

1894first post office
0on the National Register
3%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Clayton’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Clayton began

When was Clayton founded?

1894

The Clayton post office opened in 1894, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Triva (1880), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 657 in 19502020 census: 584132 years
Founding year: the first Clayton post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Clayton’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 1,204 in 1980; 584 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Clayton’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewFloods - Mississippi River Flood: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Clayton, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001960198020002020Peak: 1,204

Peaked at 1,204 in 1980; 584 people lived here in 2020.

8 censuses, 1950–2020.

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

The story so far

Clayton, in brief

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 town in northern Concordia Parish, Louisiana, United States. As of the 2020 census, Clayton had a population of 584. Cotton is a principal commodity in the area. Clayton is located on the Tensas River, important for fishing and boating, promoted through a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers-maintained boat launch. The Tensas River merges with the Black River in Jonesville in Catahoula Parish. Louisiana State Representative Andy Anders is from Clayton and Ferriday. A major employer in the town was Clayton Gin Company which closed in the early 2000s and was mostly demolished in the early 2010s. The Clayton Gin was originally constructed in the 1940s by W. Howard Davis and his brother Do…

Its first post office opened in 1894. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 711 to 584 (-18%).

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

Timeline

Clayton, 1880 to 1980

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1880Post officeThe Triva post office opens
  3. 1894Post officeThe Triva post office closes
  4. 1894Post officeThe Clayton post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1927In the archiveFloods - Mississippi River Flood
  7. 1939On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1980CensusPopulation peaks at 1,204
By decade

Clayton, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1920s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1920s1 item
Floods - Mississippi River Flood1927Floods - Mississippi River Flood
1930s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Today4 recent
Clayton, LA, welcome sign IMG 02842010Clayton, LA, welcome sign IMG 0284Tensas River vertical lift bridge2008Tensas River vertical lift bridgeClayton, LA, cotton gin IMG 12252008Clayton, LA, cotton gin IMG 1225LAMap-doton-Clayton2004LAMap-doton-Clayton
On the map

Clayton on the map, 1939 to 1995

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

Clayton on the 1939 USGS mapClayton on the 1961 USGS mapClayton on the 1983 USGS mapClayton on the 1995 USGS map1939Red Gum 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 Clayton.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Floods - Mississippi River Flood
Retake this viewFloods - Mississippi River Flood, 1927

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Clayton’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

Famous people close to Clayton

Nobody well known was born in Clayton itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Jerry Lee LewisAmerican rock 'n' roll musician · b. 1935
Richard H. TrulyAmerican astronaut and NASA administrator · b. 1937
Jimmy SwaggartAmerican TV evangelist · b. 1935
V
Varina DavisSecond wife of President Jefferson Davis and Fi… · b. 1826
Howard K. SmithAmerican news anchor · b. 1914
G
Glen BallardAmerican songwriter, lyricist, and record produ… · b. 1953
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Clayton’s post office has been open since 1894. Another post office, Triva, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Triva
1880–1894
Clayton
1894–today
18801950today

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

Questions about Clayton’s history

What year was Clayton founded?

The Clayton post office opened in 1894, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (5), 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.