Clayton is a town in

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

and New Castle counties in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...

. Located almost entirely in Kent County, it is part of the

Dover, Delaware Dover ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and the List of municipalities in Delaware, second-most populous city of the U.S. state of Delaware. It is also the county seat of Kent County, Delaware, Kent County and the princ ...

Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 3,961 at the 2020 census.

History

Byrd's AME Church, the Clayton Railroad Station, Enoch Jones House, and St. Joseph's Industrial School are listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

Geography

Clayton is located at (39.2906671, –75.6343727). According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the town has a total area of , all land. It was named after John Middleton Clayton, a prominent 19th-century Delaware lawyer and politician.

Demographics

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 1,273 people, 499 households, and 346 families living in the town. The population density was . There were 524 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 90.26%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 8.09%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.31% Native American, 0.08% Asian, 0.08%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 0.47% from other races, and 0.71% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 1.34% of the population. There were 499 households, out of which 32.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.9% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 15.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.5% were non-families. Of all households 25.7% were made up of individuals, and 11.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.55 and the average family size was 3.05. In the town, the population was spread out, with 27.2% under the age of 18, 7.3% from 18 to 24, 31.2% from 25 to 44, 20.3% from 45 to 64, and 14.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 89.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 81.1 males. The median income for a household in the town was $43,462, and the median income for a family was $48,000. Males had a median income of $34,792 versus $25,862 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the town was $18,268. About 4.0% of families and 7.0% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 5.6% of those under age 18 and 8.1% of those age 65 or over.

Infrastructure

Transportation

Delaware Route 6 Delaware Route 6 (DE 6) is a state highway in Kent County, Delaware. It runs from Maryland Route 291 (MD 291) at the Maryland border west of Blackiston east to the Delaware Bay in Woodland Beach. The route passes throug ...

is the main east–west road in Clayton, passing through town on Main Street and heading west to Blackiston and east to

Smyrna Smyrna ( ; , or ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, Turkey. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna ...

. In Smyrna, DE 6 intersects U.S. Route 13, which connects to the

Delaware Route 1 Delaware Route 1 (DE 1) is the longest numbered state highway in the U.S. state of Delaware. The route runs from the Maryland state line in Fenwick Island, Delaware, Fenwick Island, Sussex County, Delaware, Sussex County, where the ...

toll road at two interchanges on each side of town. Delaware Route 300 passes through the southern part of Clayton on Wheatleys Pond Road, heading southwest to Kenton and northeast to Smyrna, where it joins DE 6 and follows that route to the US 13 intersection.

Delaware Route 15 Delaware Route 15 (DE 15) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Delaware. The route runs from Delaware Route 14, DE 14 west of Milford, Delaware, Milford in Kent County, Delaware, Kent County north to Delaware Route 71, DE&nbs ...

passes through the western part of Clayton, following DE 6 from the west before heading north on Duck Creek Road toward Middletown. The Delmarva Subdivision line of the

Delmarva Central Railroad The Delmarva Central Railroad is an American short-line railroad owned by Carload Express that operates of track on the Delmarva Peninsula in the states of Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia. The railroad operates lines from Porter, Delaware to Ha ...

passes through Clayton, with the Delmarva Central Railroad having an interchange point with the

Norfolk Southern Railway The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States. Headquartered in Atlanta, the company was formed in 1982 with the merger of the Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. The comp ...

in the town.

Utilities

The Public Works department provides various utility services to Clayton. The public works department provides electricity to about 1,200 customers in Clayton. The town is a member of the Delaware Municipal Electric Corporation, a wholesale electric utility which provides electricity to municipal electric departments across Delaware. The department provides water to 1,100 customers in the town, with four underwater wells and two elevated storage tanks. The public works department serves 1,100 sewer customers in Clayton, operating eight pumping stations and contracting with Kent County for wastewater treatment. The department contracts with Waste Industries for trash collection in Clayton. Natural gas service in Clayton is provided by Chesapeake Utilities, cable service is provided by

Xfinity Comcast Cable Communications, LLC, doing business as Xfinity, is an American telecommunications business segment and division of the Comcast Corporation. It is used to market consumer cable television, internet, telephone, and wireless servic ...

, and telephone service is provided by

Verizon Verizon Communications Inc. ( ), is an American telecommunications company headquartered in New York City. It is the world's second-largest telecommunications company by revenue and its mobile network is the largest wireless carrier in the ...

Education

The school district is

Smyrna School District The Smyrna School District is a public school district in northern Kent County and extreme southern New Castle County, Delaware in the United States. The district is based in Smyrna. History The Smyrna Special School District and Kenton Schoo ...

. Its comprehensive high school is Smyrna High School. Clayton School District merged into the Smyrna Special School District on April 22, 1952. The Smyrna Special district was reorganized, with the Kenton School District 9, into the Smyrna School District on July 1, 1969.

References

External links

*
Official website
{{authority control Towns in Delaware Towns in Kent County, Delaware Towns in New Castle County, Delaware