Clayton Historic District (Boundary Increase)

Six buildings along the south side of Riverside Drive in Clayton, east of John Street, were added to the village's historic district to mark the eastern edge of its commercial core. Riverside Drive was created after the Johnston Shipyard closed in 1895, opening new land for commercial building. Among the group are the Thousand Islands Inn, built in 1897 by Napoleon Bertrand and said to be where Thousand Island Dressing was first served to diners, and the 1903 brick Town Hall and Opera House built by George Kenyon, long a center of community life. Two small frame buildings, one a Queen Anne storefront moved to its site by 1912, and a c.1910 brick and stucco commercial block complete the contributing group. A heavily altered department store at the corner was left out of the contributing count. Together the buildings show the late 19th and early 20th century growth of the village's waterfront trade, civic life and tourism.