Town of Clayton has a lot going for it

The trip last month to Goldsboro inspired me to get out more and do other community profiles, which ranks up there with some of my favorite photography pursuits (live performance such as music and theater, sports, landscapes, travel, striking architecture and college campuses among the others). 

So on Tuesday, I dropped in on Clayton, a town southeast of Raleigh and a place I've had my eye on since the early months after I moved to North Carolina. I didn't get there sooner because it's not really in the proximate vicinity of places I go to on a regular basis. 

Indeed, even though I live south of Raleigh — which would naturally put me somewhat closer to Clayton than most people in the Triangle — it still took me 25 minutes to get there from home the other day. I should note that I took the “old way” to get there. 

By “old way,” I'm referring to the only option that existed before the opening last year of a new segment of  NC 540, an outer-loop highway designed to encircle  Raleigh. I-540/NC 540 is now three-quarters built, and the quirk of it is that the original north segment, I-540, opened in 2007 without it being a toll road. When planners realized the remainder of the 70-mile outer loop could not be built entirely with public funds, it was decided to collect tolls on the remaining segments and to rename the toll portion NC 540, or the Triangle Expressway. The second leg on the west end opened in 2012. It took another 12 years before the third leg on the south side opened late last year, also with a toll attached. When construction is completed on the east segment, which is now projected to come in 2028, there will be a toll levied to ride on it, too.

I did take I-540 home, by the way, and boy, it was so much smoother and probably 10 minutes faster.

But I digress; this post is about Clayton, so enough about I-540! 

Clayton is largely typical of towns its size, especially the heart of its downtown merchants district. You'll be able to see for yourself in the pictures below featuring one shop after another lining Main Street. 

What distinguishes Clayton from other towns is a block away on Second Street, where a string of impressive brick structures line a full side of a block. At one end at 111 E. Second St. is the Clayton Auditorium and Conference Center in three separate structures. The Center houses the Town Hall and council chambers as well as a live performance and conference venue.

Anchoring the block adjacent to the performance hall is Horne Memorial Methodist Church (shown in the first photo below). The combination of structures fills a full block on one side of Second Street, making for an impressive collection of buildings and institutions in one place. And just a short walk away is another important red-brick building, Hocutt-Ellington Memorial Library (shown in the second photo below).

According to an online history of the complex, the Center served as an elementary school for many years before the Johnston County School Board voted to close it in 1997. After sitting idle for a couple years, a group of citizens banded together to form the Clayton Cultural Arts Foundation, which set out to preserve the historic structure. 

From 1999 to 2002, the foundation raised $2.1 million to renovate the auditorium section of the old school (shown in the photo leading off the post) into a 600-seat performance venue. At the same time, the Town of Clayton spent $6 million restoring the classroom section (shown in the photo above). Today, the complex is used for the Town Council chambers as well as a conference center for public and private events. Opening night in the performance center was New Year’s Eve 2002. 

About two miles away from the Town Center is another impressive facility, the town’s headquarters of its Parks and Recreation at 715 Amelia Church Road. The building, shown in the photo below, dominates the property that features ample parking on two sides. A short distance from this complex is Clayton Community Park adjacent to Clayton Middle School and the Community Center. The park features trails; tennis, pickleball, bocce ball and shuffleboard courts; as well as ball diamonds and playing fields.

And a ways beyond that are the town greenways and trails, most notably the Clayton River Walk on the Neuse, which starts at the Wake/Johnston County line and connects to Clayton’s recently completed Sam’s Branch Greenway. 

The River Walk on the Neuse also is part of the 1,000-mile-long Mountains-to-Sea trail, which snakes through North Carolina from the Great Smokey Mountains to the Outer Banks along the Atlantic Coast. And it is part of the 2,500-mile East Coast Greenway extending from Maine to Florida.

Clayton has much to be proud of. Enjoy the photos. To view a full gallery of images from my shoot there, follow the link in this sentence. 

Another view of the library (above), with the Methodist Church in the background. Below, a closeup of the bench in front of the library. 

Above: Home of The Woman’s Club of Clayton, with a covered, free-standing open-air building to its side. 

Above and first three photos below: Another striking architectural point of interest in town is the local law enforcement complex. It features this “look” (above) from a view well off Second Street. But there is this modernist passageway (first photo below) leading from the section above to the Second Street, curb-appeal view of the window-dominant structure in the second and third photos below.  

On the west portion of Main Street you'll find this business (above), whose sign tells it like it is. Elsewhere, there is this piece of installation art (below) in Town Square; JB's Barber Shop (second photo below); Monster Indoor Batting Cage (third photo below); a school bus that has seen better days (fourth photo below); and TR Lee's Oil & Gas and Laundromat (fifth and sixth photos below) in separate facilities across the street from each other at North Robertson Street. 

And now, for a look down East Main Street ... in no particular order 

Above and below are two views of Main Street Community Garden, a place where people in the community can come together to raise and cultivate an assortment of plants. 

Above: The sign above Clayton Rocks, a notable all-in-one private music school, shop selling vinyl records, and bar and venue for live music. 

Above: Craze is a combination tea shop and wellness center. 

Above: Art is a noticeable public expression in Clayton. There are pieces of installation art sprinkled throughout, as well as works of art visible along the greenways and parks department trails and in building murals like this one.  

Above: Aaktun is the second Triangle location of a combo coffee house, tiki bar and restaurant. The first Aaktun opened in Durham, elsewhere in the Triangle.  

Above: Signage that caught my eye. 

Horne Square (above) in the center of the Main Street merchants district is a popular gathering and relaxation venue in the community. It is home to more works of installation art, including the two pieces shown below, as well as the town's weekend community farm and market, the Chamber of Commerce Harvest Festival and other events.

Above: A garden landscaped in the back portion of Horner Square. 

Clayton Steakhouse (above) and Manning's (below) are two highly regarded eateries in downtown Clayton and are about a block apart from each other. 

Above: The two-story limestone Clayton Banking Company building, built in 1919-20, now houses the Chamber of Commerce. The front doors are framed by a pair of three-quarter ionic order columns “in antis,” according to the structure's entry in Wikipedia.

The front of Primo Pizza (above) and a group of stores (below) featuring, from left, Glen’s Barber and Beauty Salon; Blackley Printing and Signs; and Classic Stitches, an embroidery shop.

  

Revival 1869 (above) mixes prime alcoholic beverages with jazz music. It boasts a selection of more than 300 whiskies and spirits from throughout the world as well as live jazz music. 

Above: Aimee Sue Photography caught my eye for obvious reasons. 

Above and below: Perspective and closeup shots of another building mural on Main Street.

 

Above: The Dale House is home to office space of more than a half-dozen enterprises. 

Above: United Community is a bank.

Above: Wilders sells Wagyu beef and berkshire pork from livestock raised on farms in eastern North Carolina. 

Above and first two photos below: On my drive to and from the Sam's Branch and Clayton Riverwalk on the Neuse greenways, I came upon the First Baptist Church on North Fayetteville Street.

 

Above: A piece of installation art outside the parks and recreation headquarters.

 

Above and first three photos below: Shots from my mile-long walk along the Sam's Branch Greenway and a side trip into a wooded portion along the way.

 

Above: Near the trailhead of the Clayton Riverwalk on the Neuse, an information sign says this bridge that now supports vehicular traffic on Covered Bridge Road was the site of what was once a real covered bridge.