Town and Village of Clayton Historian

Found in the On the St. Lawrence and Clayton Independent, Thousand Islands Publishing Company article, dated Aug. 17, 1905, the header reads as follows: Clayton’s New Town Clock. Unknown Donor Presents The Town With A Handsome And Substantial Time Pierce. The body of the article goes on to say: If the known donor of the town clock will send his post-office address to us, this will guarantee to forward a petition signed by every man, woman, and child in Clayton expressing i...n no uncertain terms the appreciation felt for him. As it is most unlikely that he will do this, he must be content with the knowledge coming from other sources. It would be hard to overestimate the enthusiasm and good feeling the news of the gift has caused. Some time ago Chester W. Rees was instructed to see if such a gift would be acceptable and authorized to get in touch with manufacturers regarding styles, prices, etc. The town board at once passed a resolution favorable to the scheme and negotiation with clock makers were started by Mr. Rees. The plans called for something particularly good and the time piece decided upon where several hundred dollars in excess of the amount offered by the donor. Upon being acquainted with this fact our friend in the background immediately wired his approval, with further offer of paying for the carpenter work necessary in its installation. Accordingly, Mr. Rees at once placed an order with the Seth Thomas company, recognized the world over as leader in this line, for a clock, a very good cut of which is shown above. The work is now being rushed and experts from the factory will place it in position in the tower of the opera house sometime next month. The contract calls for an eight-day clock, guaranteed for 10 years, with ground plate glass illuminated dial. The hours will be struck on a bell weighing 500 pounds. Three dials will be placed one facing the river front and one each on the east and west side of the tower. Here is hoping that the donor may be often in hearing distance of its chimes. See more

1938 Auction advertisement. If known, I welcome any personal details of the St. Lawrence Chateau. Auction performed by M. Voit -- Auctioneer, 120 W. Onondaga Street, Syracuse, New York, Phone 2-7034.

Older Patterson Grocery Store photo with some of their newer ads run in local newspapers.

The 2016 DVD The Mysterious Origin of Thousand Island Dressing is by Eric J. Roberts and Andrea Reeves. There were multiple accounts on where the dressing originated, New York City’s Waldorf Astoria, the Herald House in Clayton, or the Blackstone Hotel in Chicago. Conflicting accounts and multiple names for sauces in three different regions were uncovered during the investigation where Thousand Islands dressing was first made. 1. Oscar Tschirky is said to have first co...ncocted this sauce for George Boldt and his guests on a trip on his yacht and then took it back and added it to the menu at the Waldorf Astoria. 2. Sophia LaLonde is said to have first made this sauce as a condiment for her fishing guide husband and served it at the Herald House in Clayton, now known as the T.I. Inn. 3. Theo Rooms also claims to have invented the recipe for this special sauce for the Blackstone Hotel in Chicago. The common denominator of each story seems to be actress May Irvin. She frequently stayed at the Herald House while her mansion was being built on Grindstone Island and enjoyed fishing with guide George LaLonde. She enjoyed cooking and acquired Sophia’s sauce recipe from Sophia LaLonde. May Irwin was friends with George Boldt and Oscar Tschirky who worked at Boldt’s restaurant, the Waldorf. May also traveled to Chicago while performing. While there it is assumed she gave the Sophia’s sauce recipe to Theo Rooms. Each entity claims to have introduced the recipe for this special sauce, they all had a connection to May Irvin, they all had a connection to the 1,000 Islands, which in its heyday had 16 trains arriving each day and were Islands neighbors. Whichever tale is true, the dressing is forever connected to the Thousand Islands region, and is used to promote the region for tourism.

The dedication program of the Clayton Central School in 1940. There are four pages to this post.

Early post card of today's Guardino Elementary School in Clayton and closeups of two plaques that hang in the main entryway.

If you went to a men’s barbershop in the 1950’s and the pre-Beatles Sixties you most likely would have seen this or a similar poster on the wall. You picked your style (subject to parental approval ) and paid your money. Posters like this were likely found in Clayton area barbershops. Note: This is shared post from Stephen Beaulieu.

Odds and ends....

The Clayton Town / Village Historian is available by appointment only. With the Thousand Islands Museum closed, research capabilities are limited. Contact me at [email protected] for more information. Thanks in advance, Tom LaClair

Here are some random Clayton area weddings posted on pages in a older scrapbook I recently obtained. I do not know any of the individuals personally and post them with the sole intent of sharing Clayton history. If you see a photo you don't want on facebook, let me know and I will remove it. Thanks, Tom LaClair, Clayton Historian.

Sharing Clayton construction updates from a bird eye view.

If you remember "Good Chevrolet" of Clayton, please share a comment. This advertisement is from On The St. Lawrence and Clayton Independent dated 8 Aug 1935.

Seeking someone in the area who knows the Abbie Hoffman connections to Northern New York and is willing to be interviewed by Spectrum News. I am not the person as my knowledge is little to none outside of newspaper articles. With the 2020 release of the movie, The Trial of the Chicago 7, Brian Dwyer at Spectrum News is wanting to interview someone who can tell a little bit about Abbie's local story. If you are the person, or know of someone, please contact me at [email protected] or leave me a message at 315-285-5032, or leave a comment on this page. Respectfully, Tom LaClair, Clayton Historian. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Trial_of_the_Chicago_7