Enterprise Holdings founder Jack Taylor grew up in St. Louis, graduated from Clayton High School and attended Westminster College and Washington University in St. Louis, a company biography states. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy after Pearl Harbor was bombed, and he served as an F6F Hellcat fighter pilot while based with the U.S.S. Essex and U.S.S. Enterprise. After he came back to St. Louis, he started a trucking company in Clayton before accepting a sales job with Lindburg Cadillac in 1948, the biography states. Less than a decade later, he launched his own company—then called Executive …

In 1948, Solon Gershman hired about a dozen people and began transforming Clayton's commercial real estate landscape. He bought up properties throughout downtown and built several of his own along Hanley Road. Now, Solon Gershman Inc. manages about 7.5 million square feet of retail, office and industrial space, a significant portion of which is in Clayton. Meanwhile, Gershman Mortgage—founded in 1953—services a portfolio of mortgages valued at more than $1 billion. Be the first to read our next article on Clayton's centennial. Sign up for our morning news blast: clayton-richmondheights.patch.…

Dominic Bertani started out as an employee at a small Richmond Heights salon on Clayton Road.  He decided to launch his own business in Clayton after a review of clients' ZIP codes indicated the city would be a central location. He opened Dominic Michael Salon in 1982 at a building on Forsyth Boulevard. It had interesting architectural detail, great windows and a parking lot in the back. At the time, the building sat on the periphery of Clayton. In the ensuing 30 years, Bertani's salon tripled in size, offering hair, nail and skin-repair services. The city also grew."I've watched the City of …