Clayton just keeps getting better
With the success of the Ipsen Family Bocce Park bringing 100 plus people downtown six days a week during the league seasons, I can only imagine how nice a fully developed Town Center would be. The vision of after school children stopping at a Main Street ice cream parlor/candy store, storefronts with seating, plazas filled with our locals residents walking to town on our awesome trail system, adds a twinkle to my eye and a smile on my face.
The city is exploring partnering with the county and other cities to offer property owners a choice to “green/renewable” energy sources as an alternative to PG&E electrical service.
Through funds from the Citywide Landscape Maintenance District, the city just completed the removal and installation of new wood planks on all three bridges on the Cardinet Trail. If you are not walking our trail system regularly, you are missing out on great scenery, great exercise, and the great opportunity to meet many friendly folks who love Clayton just as much as you do.
Diablo View Middle School
Our community-wide character-building program, Do The Right Thing, works and is instilling great actions by our youth. This year the leadership class collected donations for the Valley and Butte fire victims, including coats, mittens, socks and more. They also raised $1,200 for UNICEF during Trick or Treat.
As mayor, it is my pleasure once a month to honor students selected by their teachers from Mt. Diablo Elementary School, Diablo View Middle School and Clayton Valley Charter High School for exemplifying desired behavior traits in our Do The Right Thing program in the areas of responsibility, respect, kindness, self discipline, integrity and courage.
Clayton History
Last month I promised you some Clayton history. Here is the first installment.
Mt. Diablo and the surrounding foothills are rich with history dating back to the early 1700s when the Volvons and the Bay Miwok tribes lived in the foothills. When Spanish explorers arrived in what is now known as Contra Costa County, the native population was about 2,400. Disease brought into the valley by the Spanish settlers killed all but about 50 of the original Native Americans by the late 1800s.
Joel Clayton arrived on the scene in 1842. Envisioning a center for mining, he bought 40 acres and later increased his holdings to 1,400 acres. His partner Charles Rhine and Joel flipped a coin for the town naming rights. If not for the luck of a coin toss, we would be living in Rhinesville.
The new town quickly grew and soon had a hotel, barber shop, store, blacksmith, livery stable, school, hall, two churches, saloons and a brewery. In 1861, the Clayton post office was established and is now one of California’s oldest and continuously operating post offices.
Hopefully, I have piqued your interest in local history sufficient for you to stop by the Clayton Historical Society located on Main Street. Books about Clayton history are available for purchase and the museum is rich with pictures and items for viewing donated by our settlers. If not, you will have to wait until next month to hear how the town was almost destroyed by fire.
Send comments to the mayor at hgeller@ci.clayton.ca.us.