| This is the North side of Main
Street as it looked on June 19, 1891, before the advent of the Eklund Hotel. |
|
| Clayton Commercial Company. The
photograph of this wool warehouse is dated 1891. The warehouse is across Front
Street from the Clayton Police Department. The wooden water tank that served only
the railroad steam engines and the C.C.C.’s store warehouse no longer exist. |
|
| Union County Courthouse. The county
commissioners awarded the contract for the courthouse to John Hill, designer and
builder from Las Vegas, New Mexico, for a bid of $18,000.00. The courthouse and
jail were dedicated on December 8, 1894. The roof and portions of the upper story
were blown away by a tornado on October 18, 1908. |
|
| Main Street – South Side.
This view is of Main Street between First and Second as it looked in the early
1900’s. This block is referred to as the Evans Block. The U.S. Post Office
was in Evans’ grocery store. Bruns Hotel (with balcony) is the only structure
that has been replaced. Duckwall’s Store now occupies the area. On the corner,
long occupied by Smithson’s Drug Store, was Tixier’s Mercantile. |
|
| Oldest Building. What for years
was referred to as the oldest building in Clayton was located on Chestnut Street
behind the Eklund Hotel. It was built by Walker Brothers in 1888 as a general
merchandise store. Through the years it served as a church, community room, attorney’s
office, schoolroom, bookstore, etc. It was demolished in 1999. |
|
| Central Ward School. In 1894,
this building was constructed to serve grades one through twelve. Later it was
the elementary school. The last classes were held there in the spring of 1965.
The Clayton Ranch Market now occupies the block between Oak and Pine, east of
First Street. This photo was taken from Oak Street, which was originally the front
of the building. |
|
| Baptist Church. In 1902, this
Baptist Church was built on the corner of Chestnut and first where the Shamrock
Station now stands. It served until 1940. A.W. Thompson in memory of his wife
and child gave the bell pictured in the belfry. It is now in front of the Albert
W. Thompson Memorial Library. |
|
| Main Street – North Side.
A view of Clayton Shows Main Street before 1917 when A.W. Thompson built what
is now the Shrine of the Testaments on the corner of First Street. Note the Eklund
Hotel’s second Story "opera balcony." |
|
| The Morris Herzstein Store. This
Herzstein Store, located on the corner of Front and Main, burned about 1916 and
was replaced with a modern motion picture theater, first called the Mission and
now the Luna. |
|
| The First Depot. This was the
first depot in Clayton, built in 1888. Passenger service was discontinued in 1967
and the last depot on this site was torn down in 1987. |
|
| St. Joseph’s Hospital. The
local doctors needing a general hospital contacted the Catholic sisters in Santa
Fe. The Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth built the hospital in 1921. Construction
was by B.C. Froman. It closed in 1962. Now the block between Second and Third
and Locust and Aspen Streets is occupied by the Clayton Housing Authority. |
|
| La Tienda Del Simon* Simon Herzstein’s
ready-to-wear store, next to the old Farmers and Stockmens Bank on the corner
of Main and First, was constructed during the drought and depression in 1931.
According to reports, it was built entirely o the barter system. It was torn down
in 1971. Alsup’s law office is in the new building. *The sign is now in the
Museum. |
|
| Clayton Automotive Service. This
building was constructed in 1915 and located on the northwest corner of Main and
Second Streets. The photograph was taken when W.C. (Bill) Wheatley was owner-operator.
He started the business in 1932 and sold out in 1973. After several owners, The
First National Bank of New Mexico bought the lot. The building was torn down in
1989 to make a parking area. |
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