Clayton Railroad Station
Bassett St., Clayton, DEThe Clayton Railroad Station is significant because of its history, as a part of the Delaware Railroad so important in the economic history of Delaware after the Civil War, and because of its architecture as an intact mid-nineteenth century Railroad depot with Italianate features.
Because the station is closely linked to the history of the Delaware Railroad, an important Delaware transportation system, the Clayton Railroad Station is being nominated to the National Register on the basis of Criterion A. The station is also significant architecturally and therefore is being nominated to the National Register.
The Clayton Railroad Station was built around 1855 at a small settlement called Jimtown, near Smyrna, as the Delaware Railroad moved southward, and for nearly one hundred years served the diverse needs of the agrarian region surrounding it. The Delaware Railroad was originally chartered in 1836; however, this attempt was unsuccessful because insufficient funds were raised primarily as a result of the Panic of 1837 and the devastating economic conditions that plagued Delaware and the nation. John M. Clayton, Secretary of State under President Zachary Taylor, was a driving force behind this earliest attempt to establish a railroad. Later Jimtown, or Smyrna Station as it came to be called, would be named after Clayton.
Thirteen years after this early attempt, the charter was revived primarily through the efforts of Delaware's Chief Justice, Samuel M. Harrington; however, nothing was done until 1852 when the State of Delaware subscribed 5,000 shares of stock in the new company to be paid out of the revenue accrued from the New Castle and Frenchtown Rail Road. In 1853 the Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore Railroad (P. W. & B.) became interested in the railroad. The president of that railroad was Samuel M. Felton; he and Charles I. duPont became directors of the reorganized Delaware Railroad Company which was heavily funded by Philadelphia investors, but controlled by Delawareans. The Pennsylvania interest resulted from their attempt to divert trade from Baltimore. Thereafter construction was pushed. In 1854 the company experienced more financial difficulties only to be remedied by a bond sale in the amount of $200,000 guaranteed by the P. W. & B. The bonds were not all sold, but P. W. & B. came forward with the money as did the state, and on May 4, 1855 the railroad was completed to Middletown, and by January of 1856, it had passed through Jimtown and had reached Dover.
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1986.
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.