Clayton is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

in Panola County,

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. According to the

Handbook of Texas The ''Handbook of Texas'' is a comprehensive encyclopedia of Texas geography, history, and historical persons published by the Texas State Historical Association (TSHA). History The original ''Handbook'' was the brainchild of TSHA President Wal ...

, the community had an estimated population of 79 in 2000.

Geography

Enochs is located at (32.0982190, −94.4749246). It is situated at the junction of State Highway 315 and FM 1970 in southwestern Panola County, approximately 16 miles southwest of

Carthage Carthage was the capital city of Ancient Carthage, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the classi ...

History

The area was first settled around 1845 by

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

native Jacob Cariker. He constructed a house two miles southwest of Reed's Settlement, one of the earliest communities in Panola County. During the 1870s, most residents from Reed's Settlement had relocated to the Cariker site. A post office was established in 1874 under the name Clayton, after

Clayton, Alabama Clayton is a town in and the county seat of Barbour County, Alabama, United States. The population was 3,008 at the 2010 census, up from 1,475 in 2000. History Clayton has been the county seat since 1834, two years after the creation of Barbou ...

, said to have been the origin of several early settlers. Clayton had a population of 130 in 1885. That number had risen to 200 by 1914. During the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, the population declined to 175 and steadily decreased thereafter. By the late 1960s, the number of inhabitants stood at 125. By 2000, Clayton had 79 residents and two businesses. Clayton has a post office with the ZIP code 75637. Margie Neal, first woman elected to the

Texas State Senate The Texas Senate ( es, Senado de Texas) is the upper house of the Texas State Legislature. There are 31 members of the Senate, representing single-member districts across the U.S. state of Texas, with populations of approximately 806,000 per cons ...

, was born near Clayton in 1875.

Education

Public education in the community of Clayton is provided by the Carthage Independent School District. Clayton once operated its own public school district. In May 1905, Clayton School District #11 was created. It was defined and organized in February 1907. The district consolidated with Carthage in 1965.

References

External links

* * {{authority control Unincorporated communities in Panola County, Texas Unincorporated communities in Texas