Clayton, Indiana

Town of Clayton, Indiana
—  Town  —
Location in the state of Indiana
Coordinates: 39°41′22″N 86°31′22″W / 39.68944°N 86.52278°W / 39.68944; -86.52278Coordinates: 39°41′22″N 86°31′22″W / 39.68944°N 86.52278°W / 39.68944; -86.52278
Country	United States
State	Indiana
County	Hendricks
Township	Liberty
Area
– Total	0.5 sq mi (1.3 km2)
– Land	0.5 sq mi (1.3 km2)
– Water	0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2)
Elevation	876 ft (267 m)
Population (2010)
– Total	972
– Density	1,936.5/sq mi (747.7/km2)
Time zone	EST (UTC-5)
– Summer (DST)	EST (UTC-5)
ZIP code	46118
Area code(s)	317
FIPS code	18-13366[1]
GNIS feature ID	0432598[2]
Website	www.townofclaytonin.org

Clayton is a small town in Liberty Township, Hendricks County, Indiana, United States located on State Road 39, between Danville, Plainfield and Mooresville with easy access to Interstate 70. The population was 972 at the 2010 Census.

History

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 Washington Wills. However, 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.

The first schoolhouse built in Clayton was erected in 1867. In the spring of 1868, Howard Mitchell started a subscription school in the new building. It was not until 1897 the first high school of the township was built in Cartersburg. In the fall of 1901 the high school was transferred to Clayton, which made it nearer the middle of the township and the center of the school population.

In 1909 the town was incorporated and had a population of 497. An excerpt from a Hendricks County Historical Periodical in 1910 accounts that "Clayton of today is a prosperous, progressive and beautiful little city. Trade is excellent among the business houses and social life of the town is of high standard. Good communication is available by way of the railroad or interurban to the capital city and other towns in the southern part of the county." An essay by Louise Overton in 1930 described the town as "a beautiful and well cared for little city. In addition to three grocery stores, there are three garages, a Post Office, two barber shops, three beauty shops, two restaurants, two hardware stores, one mill, one drug store, two doctors, one meat shop, one shoe shop and one poultry house."

Geography

Clayton is located at 39°41′22″N 86°31′22″W / 39.68944°N 86.52278°W / 39.68944; -86.52278 (39.689427, -86.522752)^[3].

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 0.5 square miles (1.3 km²), all of it land.

Cityscape

Lambert Park in Clayton is home to the Fall Festival and "Movies in the Park" on Friday evenings.

Entertainment

The Clayton Cafe's Friday night fish fry has people lined up and out the door.

Clayton is known for its annual Fall Festival sponspored by the Clayton Community Association in September featuring horse pulls, tractor pulls, live bands, food, kid's games, bingo, a parade and more. Clayton also sponsors the annual "Triple F Ride" in June which is a non-profit bike rally starting in Lambert Park.

Education

Mill Creek School Corporation is a four star school system, three of their four schools are located in the Town of Clayton: Mill Creek East Elementary, Cascade Middle School and Cascade High School.

Cascade High School, home of the Cadets, has a very well developed athletic program.

Demographics

As of the census^[1] of 2000, there were 693 people, 258 households, and 199 families residing in the town. The population density was 1,394.7 people per square mile (535.1/km²). There were 270 housing units at an average density of 543.4 per square mile (208.5/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 98.41% White, 0.14% African American, 0.29% from other races, and 1.15% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.72% of the population.

There were 258 households out of which 39.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.7% were married couples living together, 11.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.5% were non-families. 20.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.69 and the average family size was 3.08.

In the town the population was spread out with 30.0% under the age of 18, 6.2% from 18 to 24, 34.3% from 25 to 44, 19.3% from 45 to 64, and 10.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 95.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.2 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $45,066, and the median income for a family was $47,039. Males had a median income of $40,417 versus $24,500 for females. The per capita income for the town was $21,387. About 2.8% of families and 4.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 5.1% of those under age 18 and 5.6% of those age 65 or over.

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 
2. ^ "US Board on Geographic Names". United States Geological Survey. 2007-10-25. http://geonames.usgs.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 
3. ^ "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. 2011-02-12. http://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/gazette.html. Retrieved 2011-04-23. 

External links

• Mill Creek Community Historical Society
• Town of Clayton website
• Mill Creek Community School Corporation