Clayton Timeline
Take a moment to experience the history of the City of Clayton. This timeline is complimentary to the exhibition Ralph Clayton: The Man. The Place on view at the Center of Clayton.
Explore Black Clayton Timeline
This comprehensive timeline courtesy of Donna Rogers-Beard & Geoff Ward reveals the untold story of African American Community History of Clayton. Special thanks to Mayor’s Commemorative Landscape Task Force.
Watch Clayton’s Neighborhoods: The Forgotten Neighborhood here.
“The ‘great divorce’ between St. Louis City and St. Louis County initially fails with 12,833 voting against versus 12,726 voting in favor. Supporters of the separation bring charges of fraudulent voting and demand a recount; four months later it passes by a 1,253 margin.”
“In May of 1877, on the day commissioners were first hearing proposals for the new county seat, the name of what had been Smith Road was changed to Clayton Road running from the city limits of St. Louis to its junction with Conway Road. ”
“The commissioners charged with the selection of a new county seat choose a proposition made by Ralph Clayton, a Methodist farmer and slave-owner. The proposition includes a donation of 100 acres from Clayton and four acres from Martin Hanley’s widow, Cyrene. Voters approve the choice that December.”
“A groundbreaking ceremony is held for a St. Louis County Courthouse in the future city of Clayton. Ralph Clayton shovels the first scoop of dirt, saying, “In the name of God, in the interests of civilization, with the hope that none but days of happiness shall greet the people of St. Louis County, I commence this work.””
“The First School is established at Coleman Avenue, admitting 48 white children and three Black children. ”
“Ralph Clayton passes away at the age of 95, seven years after the founding of the town that bears his name.”
“The Missouri General Assembly passes legislation ordering separate schools for children “of African descent.””
“The First Baptist Church of Clayton buys land from the Davis estate to begin building a frame church.”
“A new elementary school is built on Forsyth Boulevard, for white children only. Black students remain at the original school on Coleman, which becomes known as the Colored School.”
“The U.S. Supreme Court upholds racial segregation in Plessy v. Ferguson.”
“Richard Hudlin, an African American Republican, is named the first post-master of the Clayton Post Office.”
“The Neighborhood Improvement Association of Clayton agreed to build a sidewalk along Forsyth boulevard to the Hanley Road, and down that road to Bonhomme Avenue and the African American school.”
“John O’Gorman opens a hardware store in the Oncken Building at what would become 28 North Central. After O’Gorman’s death in 1921, Frank Human buys the inventory and reopens the store. In 1927, Human Brothers Hardware moves to a new building at 30 North Central. ”
“Clayton’s population is approximately 2,000, including about 50 Black families.”
“Architect and landscape designer Henry Wright begins platting Brentmoor Park, a private subdivision.”
“A fire destroyed the Autenrieth Hotel, on the north side of Forsyth near Meramec Avenue. Autenrieth’s descendents rebuild at the same location. ”
“Clayton’s first high school senior class—five girls and four boys—graduated. ”
“James Jamieson designs the private home of Robert S. Brookings, then president of the Washington University Board of Directors. In 1923, Brookings donates the house to the university and it is used as a chancellor’s residence until 1958. In 1962, the building becomes a hub for alumni activities; it is now known as Alumni House.”
“Architect and landscape designer Henry Wright designs the private subdivision Forest Ridge.”
“Archbishop John J. Glennon blesses St. Joseph’s new Gothic Revival church at Maryland Avenue and North Meramec Avenue.”
“The Haarstick and Whittemore houses are built on Forsyth Boulevard, commissioned by Henry Haarstick as homes for his daughters, Emma and Ida. The family later donates the houses to Washington University.”
“The Skinker-Francis House is built in the Skinker-Heights subdivision by Thomas Keith Skinker, secretary-treasurer of the Forest Park Railway Company and son of prominent Clayton landowner Thomas Skinker. In 1924, the home is bought by David R. Francis, who served as mayor of St. Louis, governor of Missouri, president of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, and ambassador to Russia during World War I.”
“484 students are enrolled in Clayton schools; 445 are white and 35 are African American. ”
“The Watchman-Advocate publication opens a new office at 410 Central Avenue. ”
“Voters approve incorporation of the City of Clayton and elect William Broadhead its first mayor.”
“Ordinance authorizing the taxing of dogs goes into effect as the city’s first revenue source.”
“The new city of Clayton extends its limits to include Boland’s Farm, the Carr estate, Brentmoor, Southmoor, Forest Ridge, Hill Crest, and Skinker Heights. ”
“St. Louis Mayor Henry W. Kiel creates a Board of Zoological Control and gives it authority over 70+ acres of Forest Park.”
“The first services are held in the new Church of St. Michael and All Angels building at Wydown Boulevard and Ellenwood Avenue. The English Gothic church was designed by James P. Jamieson.”
“The City of Clayton is formally incorporated with a population of 1,948: 1,801 white residents, 137 Black residents, and 10 Japanese residents.”
“A group of Clayton parents collaborate to open a kindergarten for four-year-olds. Mabel Wilson, a respected kindergarten teacher, serves as the director and namesake of Wilson School.”
“Arthur Lambert, cousin of aviation pioneer Albert Bond Lambert, builds a home on Forsyth Boulevard. In 1919, it is purchased by Ernest Stix, an original incorporator of the Municipal Opera and a director of Washington University, and his wife, Erma Kingsbacher Stix, a cofounder of John Burroughs School and a president of the St. Louis Suffrage League. Upon Erma’s passing in 1969, the home is left to Washington University, where it is now known as Stix House. ”
“Architect and landscape designer Henry Wright designs the private subdivision of Brentmoor.”
“The post office announces free home mail delivery for Clayton residents who put numbers on their houses and provide suitable receptacles for carriers to deposit the mail.”
“St. Louis commemorates the 150th anniversary of the founding of the city with the Pageant and Masque of Saint Louis, a five-hour theatrical event that runs for five nights on Forest Park’s Art Hill. 7,500 cast members enact 300 years of local history, from the Mound Builders through the Civil War. Over 385,000 viewers attend the production.”
“26 individuals are transferred from Washington University Hospital to become the first patients of the newly opened Barnes Hospital on Kingshighway.”
“Clayton residents agree to a ten-year contract with the Electric Company of Missouri to install streetlights.”
“Fred L. Kerth becomes mayor after a special election.”
“Edward Tegethoff opens the first “Airdome” on Forsyth Boulevard, to begin showing “high-class” moving pictures for ten cents admission.”
“A new “jitney” service begins running between Clayton and St. Louis. The “big yellow seven-passenger interstate automobile” can make the trip in less than fifteen minutes.”
“Wydown Chapel, at Wydown Boulevard and University Lane, is dedicated for the First Trinitarian Congregational Church and Society, now the First Congregational Church of St. Louis.”
“St. Louis voters pass a segregation ordinance stating no one can move to a block of residences where 75% of the people are another race. Ordinances such as these are ruled unconstitutional in 1917.”
“The United States joins World War I. ”
“The country’s first municipal open-air theatre (the Muny in Forest Park) features a grand rendition of Verdi’s AIDA on its first opening night.”
“Scott Air Force Base opens as Scott Field, a flight instruction base for wartime pilots.”
“The Clayton Board of Aldermen establish the Clayton Fire Department as a professional department. Until then, the firemen were all unpaid volunteers.”
“One hundred students attend the new Clayton High School at 7500 Maryland Avenue.”
“Architect and landscape designer Henry Wright plots Hi-Pointe, incorporating the natural topography of the land into the subdivision’s design.”
“500 cases of influenza are reported among the 6,000 soldiers at Jefferson Barracks Military Post, just a few miles south of St. Louis.”
“Germany signs an armistice agreement with the Allies, ending World War I with a total of 1,384 St. Louisans killed in battle. ”
“Students of the School District of Clayton take a nine-week “flu vacation” from classes due to the Spanish Flu pandemic.”
“Missouri ratifies the Eighteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, prohibiting the “manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors for beverage purposes.” ”
“The Missouri Negro Industrial Commission is established and provides recommendations for improvement of Black life in Missouri until the legislation authorizing it expires in 1928.”
“Missouri ratifies the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, granting full suffrage to women. ”
“St. Louis League of Women Voters is founded.”
“The Eighteenth Amendment goes into effect in the U.S., prohibiting the “manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors for beverage purposes.” Anheuser-Busch, local wineries, and other companies begin to create alternate products. ”
“The Nineteenth Amendment goes into effect in the U.S., granting full suffrage to women.”
“St. Louis elects Walthall Moore the first Black representative in the Missouri General Assembly.”
“Clayton’s Board of Aldermen replace the marshal system. Ten board members become members of the new Clayton Police Department, which also has one full-time police officer.”
“WEW in St. Louis, Missouri’s first radio station, begins broadcasting weather reports for Missouri and Illinois. ”
“The city of St. James swears in Mayme Ousley, the first female mayor in Missouri.”
“Clayton High School crowns its first Claymo Queen.”
“Wydown Terrace is developed, just within the eastern city limits of Clayton, on the site of what had been the Philippine Exhibit during the 1904 World’s Fair. It is now on the National Register of Historic Places. ”
“Mellcene T. Smith of St. Louis and Sarah Lucille Turner of Kansas City became the first women elected to the Missouri General Assembly.”
“Clayton Methodist moved to a new brick church at the corner of Bemiston and Maryland avenues. The church is now known as The Gathering United Methodist Church.”
“A group of St. Louis businessmen acquire the former country estate of Robert E. Carr, a prominent landowner who died in 1901. They retain noted landscape artist Jens Jensen to design a development known as Carrswold, now on the National Register of Historic Places.”
“Julius R. Nolte is elected mayor of Clayton.”
“The Moorlands Additions Apartment District, roughly bounded by Clayton Road, Glenridge Drive, Wydown Boulevard, and both sides of Westwood Drive, is built to be one of the county’s elite private places.”
“The Art Deco-style Chase Hotel is built at the corner of Kingshighway Boulevard and Lindell Boulevard. ”
“Christian Brothers College moves into a new school building at University Lane and Clayton Road and makes Clayton its home until relocating to Town and Country in 2003.”
“Attucks School is built at Hanley Road and Bonhomme Avenue. ”
“The new brick building for the Crispus Attucks School replaces the old one-room frame building.”
“Noted landscape architect Julius Pitzman lays out the DeMun subdivision, incorporating the natural topography of the land into his design.”
“Roy P. Atwood, president of the Atwood Hay and Grain Co., is elected mayor of Clayton and pushes for city improvements, including a new firehouse and the beautification of the old city park behind the county courthouse. ”
“With Prohibition cutting into their sales, the Autenrieth family sells the Autenrieth Hotel to Joseph Parks, who renames it the Claymo Hotel.”
“The Clayton Rotary Club, one of the city’s oldest civic organizations, is formed during a meeting of twenty-five prominent business and professional men at the Claymo Hotel.”
“The St. Louis Theatre (now Powell Hall) opens as the third largest theater in the country; a matinee show costs 35 cents.”
“Davis Place is developed, the first private development in Clayton to allow both single and duplex family buildings.”
“The first classes are held on Fontbonne University’s Clayton campus.”
“Concordia Seminary’s new campus is dedicated. A crowd of 75,000 from across the country attended. ”
“Clayton passes an ordinance limiting smoke emissions from residences, factories, furnaces, and even steam locomotives to prevent the type of “blackouts” that regularly darken the skies over the city of St. Louis.”
Information for this timeline was sourced from newspapers, census records, Donna Rogers-Beard, Clayton, Missouri: An Urban Story by Mary Delach Leonard and Melinda Leonard (Reedy Press, 2012), and Clayton: A History by Dickson Terry (City of Clayton, 1976).