The town of Clayton, located in Johnston County, was built on the road cut by Governor Tynn's troops as they marched against the Regulators from New Bern to Hillsborough around 1770. A depot for the North Carolina Railroad in the home of Mrs. Sarah Stallings, the community was first known as Stallings' Station. On January 30, 1856, Stallings' Station was officially changed to Clayton named for a senator from Delaware, and it was incorporated in 1869.