Clermont & It's Historic Old Buildings

"Cast me not off in the time of old age; forsake me not when my strength faileth." Psalm 71:9

Sign that hangs on the left side of the Historic Clermont Hotel
Built 1911-1912

One day last week I got up early in the morning and headed out with the intent on beginning on something that I have been planning to do for years. I want to research the history of my town and take some photos of not only my town but of the surrounding area. I want to be able to pass this information on to my children and my grand children. I had originally intended to start by taking pictures of historical district and landmarks of my own town. But, traffic put a stop to my original intent and instead I ended up heading north to a little town not far up the road from where I live. The little town is called Clermont. I took some pictures of the old hotel and a few of the other old buildings there and the post office. When I got home I decided to get on line and see what I could find out about this town. According to the 2000 census the population was 419! In 2000!! There are 124 families and 161 households. The town has a total area of 2.5 km which is 1.0 miles, all land. See… I told you it was a tiny little town! Then I sat out to see if I could find any past history on this tiny little town and any history on the old hotel. I discovered that the town was originally named Dip, why I don’t know! It appears that it was a mercantile center at the time. The name was later changed to Clermont, which means Clear Mountains. I found black and white photos that depicted some of the history of the town and its people. I found an old photo of tourists passing through the town on their way to the mountains around 1925. There were old cars and people filling the street & believe it or not what appears to be a traffic jam! Yes, the streets were just bumper to bumper with people and cars! The photo description stated that to entice the tourists to stop they were served country cider and cookies! I love it! I found a black & white of the Concord Baptist Church & what appears to be choir members around the time frame of 1901. The church was originally founded in 1851. The second church was evidently erected in 1882 and used until 1919. I found photos of the old post office, which was actually a town member’s home and the first mail carrier, who was mounted on a horse & carrying the mail in his saddle bags! The estimated date of the photo was between 1890 and 1910. There were a couple of old general stores photos. One was named Griffin General Merchandise, which I think is the same as Griffin Brothers Cash & Carry. The black & white photos included business owners and a few that included the mayor at the time and a great photo of an old Coca Cola sign that was in one of the stores! It appears that Griffin Brothers operated a large amount of the business in the little town. I found records that their names were Moody ("Mood") Griffin and Carter Thaddeus Griffin. Their father's name was John Thaddeus Griffin. There were cotton mills and corn mills and several stores that was named after the Griffin Brothers. One gas pump served the whole town and it was located at the Griffin Brothers Furniture & Musical Instrument store, where they sold furniture on the bottom level and built caskets on the upper level! I also found a photo of the town’s first bank building during its construction in 1912 and the school class photo from the 1914 – 1915 school year. And finally, I found black & white photos of the hotel being built in 1911-1912. And the road showed the remains of what used to be an old plank road and there was a barefoot water boy in the photo as well. I also found a great photo of the old hotel once it was built which included a balcony with visitors and locals.

Below are photos that I took last week.

I tried to get a photo of the entire building in the shot, but was not able to do so, so I will post what I was able to photograph. In comparing the old black & white with these photos, there is very little difference in the way the hotel looked then & now. The awning has been added in recent times but not much else appears to have changed. Very little anyway....


Clermont Hotel Built 1911-1912

Front view of portion of the Clermont Hotel

If you look above the large windows you see smaller

windows that are stained glass, probably original to the early 1900's.

This is a portion of the front of the hotel and the right side view.

Above photo is the front view of what I believe was once the old Griffin Furniture & Musical Instrument Store

And here is the side view

I believe that the above two photos are photos of what was once the old Griffin Furniture & Musical Instrument Store. According to records the store consisted of furniture,caskets,Standard Motor Oil and had the only gas pump in the town. Caskets were built upstairs and appeared to be sold downstairs. Furniture was sold downstairs on the right and caskets were sold on the left side of the builing. The old black & white photo that I found dates the store to 1920-1930.

Perhads Old Griffin Brothers Cash & Carry General Store

The above photo is another old building in Clermont. I think this may have been the Griffin Brothers Cash & Carry, a general store where farmers bought what they could not raise on their farms. It is currently an Antique & Salvage Store... I have to go back and take a look inside and see what I can find!

I believe that the above photo is that of what was once the Griffin Bros. Cotton House.

I have to say that I very much enjoyed my day! Not now, but one day a long time from now, these photos will mean something to my children & grandchildren. I know one day they will love the opportunity to look back to see how things use to be. I am so pleased that I could find the old black & white photos of the early 1900's to compare to the ones that I took that day. I have started a file for my family with the photos that I took last week and also of the old black & white photos. I am amazed at how many of the old buildings look very, very similar from those long ago days.

As I sit here looking at the old black & white photos I smile as I think about what the days must have been like in that little town! It appears that though it was a tiny little town, it was indeed a booming little mercantile district at that time!

Come back soon and stay a while!
Until next time, take care!
Barbara
Southern Lady's Vintage