Clayton Smelter

For twenty years Clayton's silver belonged to Henry Ford. The Ford Motor Company bought the Idaho Mining and Smelter Company's holdings here in 1926, shipped the ore to a newer smelter at Tooele, Utah, that could part silver from lead more cheaply, and sold out in 1946 to the Clayton Silver Mine company, which worked the mine until low metal prices closed it in 1986 with ore still in the ground. The smelter that named the town had opened on September 15, 1880. The company store built that year is on the National Register.

What the plaque says

Clayton Smelter Lead-silver mineral discoveries 12 miles north of here on Bayhorse Creek in 1864 and 1872 led Joel E. Clayton to locate a large smelter here in 1880. Doubled in size in 1888, Clayton's smelter had enough variety of ores from local mines to continue production until 1902. A modern flotation plant followed for six years after 1919. When silver prices rose in 1935, Clayton became southern Idaho's primary silver producer, operating steadily for more than 50 years. 416 Text prepared by the Idaho Historical Society Marker made & installed by Idaho Transportation Department

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Yankee Fork Gold Dredge — 18 mi
  A 988-ton floating gold dredge worked five miles of valley for twelve years, and spent more than it found.

More markers nearby

• Yankee Fork Mines — 17 mi
• Bison Jump — 17 mi
• Michel Bourdon — 18 mi
• Sawtooth City — 31 mi