WELCOME TO CLAYTON

Clayton is a city in Contra Costa County, California, United States. The population was 10,762 as of the 2000 census.

In 1857, the town of Clayton was laid out and founded by Joel Henry Clayton (1812-1872) and his two younger brothers. Clayton was born in Bugsworth, now Buxworth, in the United Kingdom, and immigrated to the United States in 1837. After years in other states he settled down with his wife Margaret (1820-1908) at his town at the foot of Mt. Diablo, where he and his family prospered. Clayton was named after Joel Henry Clayton, although only by the flip of a coin. Joel Clayton and Charles Rhine cofounded the town, and each wanted to name it after them. If Charles had won it would have become Rhinesville, but Joel Clayton won.

Clayton prospered during the coal mining boom in eastern Contra Costa County. The post office opened in 1861. Clayton incorporated in 1964.

Folklore

A local superstition of Clayton is that of Sarah Norton. Sarah Norton, Henry Norton's daughter, was on the way to a funeral when, ironically, her buggy (horse-drawn carriage) derailed off the side of the road. She was buried in the Clayton cemetery and her ghost now "haunts" the cemetery and the road to it.

Actually, Sarah Norton was from Nortonville. She was a mid-wife. And she is buried at Rose Hill Cemetery in Nortonville (Black Diamond Mines). She is not buried in Clayton.