CLAY, TEXAS. Clay, originally known as Clay Station, on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway eight miles southeast of Snook in southeastern Burleson County, was founded as a stop on the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway in the early 1880s. The town was named for local landowner A. M. Clay, who donated the tract on which the GC&SF depot was constructed. A post office was set up in 1884. In 1903 W. A. Lyon opened a general merchandise store, one of at least two in the early community. In 1911 a school was established. It was consolidated with the Snook Independent School District in 1949. Clay reported a population of 150 in 1925. In 1945 the community had a population estimated at 100 and four accredited businesses. The post office was discontinued during the 1960s, and by 1970 the town had declined to an estimated population of sixty-one and two businesses. In 1990 and 2000 Clay still had an estimated population of sixty-one. By 2007 the community had between 150 and 175 residents.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Burleson County Historical Society, Astride the Old San Antonio Road: A History of Burleson County, Texas (Dallas: Taylor, 1980).

Charles Christopher Jackson