Clayton Historic District

Clayton is a town of frame, brick and masonry buildings grouped around a railroad line in Johnston County, North Carolina. The historic district covers the commercial core along Main and Front streets and the residential streets nearby, with examples from the late nineteenth through mid-twentieth century. Commercial buildings include the 1920 Neoclassical Clayton Banking Company building at 200 East Main Street and the B. M. Robertson Mule Company stable on South Lombard Street. Residences include Queen Anne houses such as the Hinton House on First Street and Colonial Revival houses, along with bungalows and mill houses tied to the Clayton Cotton Mill, which was organized in 1900. The district is important for its role as a regional cotton market and for an African American neighborhood on the north side of the tracks that grew after 1900, with concrete block stores built in the 1940s. The district also holds Horne Memorial United Methodist Church, built 1912 to 1916.