Several old churches remain in Clayton. The St. Paul Baptist Church, which celebrated its centenary in 2003, is still an active church with a primarily African-American congregation.
In 1869, a Presbyterian church was built along the Malaga Turnpike on the site of a former brick yard. A manse was built in 1870 and a second story added to the church in 1879. This church still stands. What is currently the St. Michael's American Methodist Episcopal Church was home to the Congregation Sons of Israel for more than 70 years. In 2005, they gave it to the Episcopal Church with one condition: It had to remain a place of worship.
The borough of Clayton was originally called Fislerville in 1730. After suffering at the hands of the British during the revolutionary war, Jacob Fisler and his sons built several cabins, expanded their farm and eventually built a house at Still Run, which still stands. It is a large yellow home across from the Still Run Boat House at Silver Lake.
In 1812, Jacob Fisler donated land for a building to be used as a school during the day and religious and town meetings in the evening. It was called the Useful School House. Part of the building was eventually moved to Delsea Drive and, today, is used by the Denise School of Dance.
There are several old homes in Clayton. One was the home of the Davis family, owners of the Clayton Hotel, where the daughter of Charles Davis and her husband lived in a large bungalow. They had a barn for dairy cattle and, later, a milk-house for processing milk for retail delivery. The farm became Delsea Dairy Farms when Delsea Drive was completed.
What is now the Clayton Historical Museum on East Avenue belonged to Evelyn and Rudolph Voss from 1948 until it was sold to the borough in 2003 as part of the Little Ease Park expansion. The family had a small farm on the property, raising a variety of crops along with chickens, turkeys and pigs.
What is, today, a budget hotel with a liquor store and restaurant was the first hotel in Clayton. It was built by Charles Davis and named The Clayton Hotel in the late 1800s. Charles Davis also owned his own Clayton Steam Bottling Works, which manufactured carbonated beverages.
