Clay, New York

Clay is a town in Onondaga County, New York, United States. As of the 2010 census, the town had a total population of 58,206, making it Syracuse's largest suburb. The town was named after Henry Clay, statesman.

Clay is northwest of Syracuse, New York. It is the largest town in the county, contains part of the village of North Syracuse, and is an affluent suburb of Syracuse. It contains the major retail strip of Syracuse's northwesterly suburbs, along New York State Route 31 (NY-31), including the Great Northern Mall.

History

Prior to European settlement in the area, Clay was inhabited by the Onondaga Nation, part of the Iroquois Confederacy, some of whose descendants still live in the area today.

Clay was within the Central New York Military Tract. The town was first settled by outsiders around 1791 and was previously known as West Cicero.

The Town of Clay was formed in 1827 from the Town of Cicero, one of the original townships of the military tract.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 48.8 square miles (126 km²), of which 48.0 square miles (124 km²) is land and 0.8 square miles (2.1 km²) of it (1.60%) is water.