Instructions:
1....Print this file.
2....At its end, click on "rules" to see a copy of the trail rules, print it, and then click where indicated at the end of the 3-page rules and patch order form to get back to the list of Florida trails.
3....If you want a hand-drawn map showing the locations of all of the sites, send a self-addressed stamped envelope to Steve Rajtar, 1614 Bimini Dr., Orlando, FL 32806.
4....Hike the trail and order whatever patches you like (optional).
WARNING - This trail may pass through one or more neighborhoods which, although full of history, may now be unsafe for individuals on foot, or which may make you feel unsafe there. Hikers have been approached by individuals who have asked for handouts or who have inquired (not always in a friendly manner) why the hikers are in their neighborhood. Drugs and other inappropriate items have been found by hikers in some neighborhoods. It is suggested that you drive the hike routes first to see if you will feel comfortable walking them and, if you don't think it's a good place for you walk, you might want to consider (1) traveling with a large group, (2) doing the route on bicycles, or (3) choosing another hike route. The degree of comfort will vary with the individual and with the time and season of the hike, so you need to make the determination using your best judgment. If you hike the trail, you accept all risks involved.
In 1891, attorney William A. House had his office here. He was named the town attorney for his allowing the town to use his office as the town hall. House also served as the president of the Clermont Improvement Company.
The house was acquired by the Hooblers, who converted it into the Hoobler House, Clermont's earliest hotel, and later into the Hohenshall House, a rooming house. It was sold in 1925 to T.H. Booe of Veedersburg, Indiana, and Dr. Walter Ross of Winter Haven, who renamed it the Montrose Hotel.
In 1930, it was acquired by T.G. Richardson of Northville, Michigan, who remodeled and renamed it the Palm Park Inn, which was torn down in 1956. In March of 1957, the land was sold to the Citizens Bank for their new building.
The library began in 1905-06, while Mrs. B.J. McCain was in charge of the Hoobler House. A salesman promised to donate books to start a library if he could sell a series of lectures. A group raised the money for the lectures and paid a portion of it to the salesman, but he did not provide the books. The group kept the rest of the money and used it to buy books, which were placed in the home of Mrs. Payson Pierce on Montrose St. They were available to the public on Saturday afternoons.
In 1910, the books were moved to the home of Isaiah Benson at 607 Lake Ave. The following year, they were moved to a small frame Baptist church. In 1914, Alice Cooper agreed to lease a 30 x 40 foot lot at 630 DeSoto St. to the Clermont Library Club, so long as it was used for a library. The new library formally opened on November 3, 1914.
In 1922, the library was wired for electricity so the city council could use it for meetings. The building was expanded, but was still too small. In 1980, the former Citizens Bank Building at this site was renovated and acquired by the city and given to the library association to use in perpetuity. It opened on December 8, 1980.
Prior to World War I, William Kern ran a general store on this corner.
The first service of the Mission Church, which was to become St. Matthias, was held in the Community Building in Kehlor Park in 1943. Mrs. Howard Sloan donated this land and the first service was held here in the new parish house on December 1, 1946.
Alexander Kern arrived in Clermont in 1884, and his family followed the next year. They built their home at this location, which included the area's first water system. It pumped water from Crystal Lake and supplied this and other houses through a small main from a tower in the back yard.
The water tank collapsed in 1921, so a pipe was laid from the Kern pump to a tank in Kehlor Park. The following year, construction was under way for a town water works. The McCrary Company of Atlanta was hired to build it, and also to pave the city streets.
The Kern house was removed after 2000.
This church was organized in 1888 with five members. With $650, they built a church here on land donated by M.E. Wilson. Rev. D.B. Farmer was the first pastor. The first building was moved to one side to make room for a new sanctuary, built in 1923. Both buildings were destroyed by a fire on March 8, 1924.
The same building plans were used to construct another sanctuary, dedicated on September 21, 1924. An educational building was erected to the east of the sanctuary in 1954, and a second one was added to the east of that in 1967.
Ground was broken for a new sanctuary designed by Nick Jones in November of 1973, and it was dedicated on September 22, 1974. The older one on the corner was razed several years later.
In 1905, Mr. and Mrs. Isaiah Benson of Woodstock, Vermont, began spending their winters here. They bought the block from Lake Ave. to 5th St., and from Montrose to Minneola Sts., and built three houses here which were replaced after 2000.
M.E. Wilson of Philadelphia built his home here in 1885. He was a major factor in building Grace Baptist Church, the first in Clermont. He and his family moved to Pensacola in 1898, and the house was sold to Frank Brown. In 1944, the E.K. Brockway family sold it to Mr. and Mrs. Middlebrooks of Winter Garden, who opened it as "The Gables", a restaurant. In the early 1950s, they added an antique and gift shop. It later became part of the Baptist Church buildings, and in about 1991 was moved to a new location off of Lakeshore Dr.
P.M. Kehlor was a millionaire flour miller in East St. Louis. His widow willed the city seven lots here for a park. It is now the city's Recreation Park, with shuffleboard and tennis.
A group began in 1936 at the home of Harriet Phillips to organize a Christian Science society. It was accepted as a society by the Mother Church on September 28, 1944. They acquired this lot in 1944, a church building was begun here in November of 1953, and it was dedicated on March 28, 1954. In 1962, the society became the First Church of Christ, Scientist. The building was remodeled and a Sunday school room was added in 1970.
In 1884, this home was built by and for Lester H. Todd, a builder from New Jersey. He also built the Hotel Clermont. The two-story frame vernacular house features an angled entryway and unusual gingerbread brackets on the porch.
Juanita Films opened a 50 x 100 foot building here on November 9, 1922, to use in making movies. They completed only three two-reel comedies before the company folded in December of 1923.
This section of shoreline, formerly called the Jaycee Public Beach, was donated as a park by Mayor C.O. Roe in 1917.
The Clermont and Minneola school districts were merged in 1915, requiring construction of a larger school building. E.S. Willey donated a site here between the two towns, and construction began in 1915 by W.M. Moore and Company. The two-story red brick building had a 1 1/2 story bell tower. Two high school classrooms were upstairs, and half of the building had a full basement with windows, a furnace room and rest rooms. Later, the rest rooms were moved upstairs and replaced by a classroom in the basement. In 1920, the Parent-Teachers Club planted 700 camphor trees for a hedge around the school grounds.
An adjacent high school to the south opened with 120 students in 1924. The stuccoed Spanish Mission style building was built by Herbert F. Bailey and his son, Howard. With furnishings, the cost was $50,000. It had an auditorium seating 400, six classrooms, study hall, library, teachers' lounge, industrial shop and a home economics room. When the second building opened as the high school, the first one became an elementary school.
During the summer of 1946, the two buildings were connected by a new section containing three classrooms and two restrooms. The Spanish style was preserved by using a Mission style corridor, adding six arches which brought the total to 29. The contractor who performed the connection was Jon Middleton.
In 1954-55, a new high school was built across the street, and this older complex became solely an elementary school.
During 1954-55, this land was purchased for construction of Clermont High School, completed in 1955. It began with 10 rooms and has been frequently enlarged. When this school was finished, the buildings on the west side of the street were used solely for the elementary grades. This later became the Clermont Middle School.
The Clermont town council bought this property in 1947 and leased it for a baseball diamond to members of the Athletic Association. In 1974, it was named after Clarence Bishop because of his great interest in Babe Ruth League Baseball.
A 10-acre tract for this cemetery was bought by the city in 1927, with the city assuming an outstanding paving assessment.
St. Mark African Methodist Episcopal Church had its beginning in 1888 when James S. Townsend contacted the minister of the Mt. Olive A.M.E. Church in Orlando. Townsend was appointed as the first preacher and was given permission to organize the church.
The first services were held in a one-room building on a hill halfway between Clermont and Minneola. In 1902, they began using a house on Chestnut St., east of 5th St. In 1917, the church bought a lot at 477 Highland Ave. (SR 50) and Prince Spears built a sanctuary which they used until the early 1970s. The new church building was dedicated here on April 27, 1975.
Elder Charlie Haywood and Sister Minnie Jamison organized this church in 1936. After World War II, the members bought land from Stella Thompson at this corner and built their church in 1948. It was torn down when this new sanctuary was built, dedicated on April 7, 1976.
This began as the First Christian Church in 1921 with a building on 5th St. between Chestnut St. and Highland Ave., with Elder Scippio directing. This new church was built by the congregation in 1966 and was later turned into a restaurant.
This shopping center was built in 1965. Eckerd Drug Store, which had purchased the Grant-Harris Drug Store in 1968, moved in here in 1969. It was followed by York Jewelers and Patti-Lu Casuals.
This church was completed in 1975 on land donated by Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Rogers. For 13 years, the group that became the congregation of the church met in the living room of the hotel across the street.
The Lake Highlands Hotel Retirement Home and Nursing Center began as the Highlands Clubhouse in March of 1914. In the 1920s, it was sold and enlarged, and operated as a hotel until 1959 when it was bought by Ambrose Rabataille and Herbert Pomfrey for a retirement home to be operated by members of the Seventh Day Adventist Church.
This church began with services in the Masonic Temple early in 1956, and was organized by Rev. Russell V. Carr on December 16, 1956. A home at this site was bought and used as an office, study and fellowship hall. In late 1959, they built a new sanctuary designed by Howell C. Hopson of Leesburg, and held their first service in it on July 3, 1960. The new fellowship hall was completed in October of 1965.
The Clermont Citrus Growers Association was organized in 1909 as a member of the Florida Citrus Exchange. They built their own packing house here in 1922, between the railroad and the highway. Both the Atlantic Coast Line and the Tavares & Gulf Railroads built sidings to serve it. Clermont brands were "Gem of the Hills" and "Minnehaha", and all members of the Exchange could use "Seald Sweet".
The packing house was bought in 1946 by Pomona Products Company, who converted it to a canning plant. In 1965, the property was purchased by Bell Ceramics of New Jersey.
This congregation organized on October 26, 1952. The original Lutheran church building in Groveland was moved here and remodeled, and the main sanctuary was completed in 1954. The first pastor was Rev. M.L. Swanson.
Floyd Roe and R.V. Miller established a florist business in the early 1930s west of the intersection of 12th and Montrose Sts. In 1941, Miller moved it to his home on Crystal Lake Dr. Later, the business was acquired by Dru Rambo who erected this building in 1953 and operated Rambo Florist here for 29 years.
This was the residence of the first black family in south Lake County, the members of which distinguished themselves in the areas of education, religion and community health. It has been relocated near the railroad station, where it can be renovated and turned into a museum.
The group comprising the first congregation met in a house on Chestnut St. until 1908, when they built a 12 x 15 foot sanctuary a little to the southeast of this spot. They made several additions to the original building, which was torn down when the present one was erected in 1982.
John R. (Doc) Jones had a wood yard here, and owned the land and buildings on this corner, including the one which used to be Aunt Sally Townsend's Clinic. The first black residents of Clermont were James S. and Sally DeVaughn Townsend. "Aunt" Sally, a midwife, decided that there was a need for a maternity home for black women. In 1941, she had one established near here in a one-story building. The Townsends were founders of the St. Marks African Methodist Episcopal Church and Clermont's first black school.
Jones helped build the house that was converted into the Clermont Hotel, and worked in the development of the Lake Highlands Company lands.
This large Mediterranean style home was built by C.D. Kenney during the 1920s land boom. In about 1945, it was bought by Fred L. and Dorothy Wolfe. Mr. Wolfe established Clermont Builders Supply Company, reclaimed some marsh land, and opened Carroll St. heading westward to the road to Groveland.
This area was originally the property of Herring Hooks of Americus, Georgia. He had settled in Yalaha in 1868, and discovered the lakes and hills of Clermont on a hunting grip in 1874. He and wife Mary bought 157 acres, later known as Margaree Gardens. The Hooks family had a home at this intersection.
The land to the south, extending on a peninsula into Lake Minnehaha, was part of the property of the Hooks family, and was previously the site of an Indian village. Homer Hooks planted it in citrus.
Lester H. Todd from New Jersey, along with others, operated the town's first sawmill near here on the shore of Mill Lake. Later, the Clermont Improvement Company renamed it Lake Winona.
This was begun in the 1960s by a group of doctors who had arrived in Clermont in the 1950s. The group included Dr. Carl Smith and Dr. W. Kenneth Smith of Caney, Kansas, who first had an office at 838 DeSoto St. in 1952, Dr. Thomas D. Weaver from Kissimmee, and Dr. Thomas H. Nicols from Knox, Indiana. The medical center opened on August 1, 1960.
The town incorporated at a meeting at Wilson's Hall on June 9, 1891, but the charter was cancelled on May 25, 1895. It re-incorporated in December of 1916. Its first mayor was C.H. Goodenough.
This building was constructed in 1961, and its first tenant was First Federal Savings and Loan Association. Later, it became the City Hall, to be replaced by a new, larger building on Montrose St. in 2003. Westgate Plaza also includes Clermont Bowling Lanes, built for Martin Winter in 1960.
The city clerk and city superintendent moved in here in 1972, making this the Clermont City Hall until it was replaced by a larger facility built after 2000 on Montrose St.
This facility was built by Dr. J.R. Peacock, D.V.M., in 1964.
The company was established by Fred L. Wolfe, and purchased in 1960 by J. Ellis Konsler and his brother, Charles E. Konsler. They built a 20,000 square foot building at this location. In 1971, S.W. Williams and Homer Allen bought what was then called Konsler Steel, and expanded the plant. It was later acquired by Exceltech.
Charles Pool donated land on Lake Ave., between Osceola and Minneola Aves., for a Catholic Mission Church. The first mass held in it was on Christmas Eve in 1933, before the building was completed. It served the congregation until 1963 when this parish church was built.
In 1956, the church had acquired grove property here and built its first parish church, with a dedication ceremony on May 19, 1963. Father Hugh Keane, on loan from Ireland, was its first pastor. The multi-service building was added in 1971, including a social hall, kitchen facilities, a church office, and classrooms. The interior of the church was rebuilt in 1974-75, and a new rectory was built in 1977-78. The bell towers were completed in 1981.
In 1947, W.P. Frisz opened a new bar and grill on this corner, and it remained in his family until 1973. In 1978, it became the Rusty Fox, owned by Lou Formato.
American Legion Post 55 met at the Yacht Club on Lake Minnehaha since they bought it in 1944. After they sold it in 1956, they erected a new meeting place here.
The Kurfiss Funeral Home of Groveland built a funeral home here in 1954. It included a chapel seating 140.
This building was erected in 1964 to house the police and fire departments, and the city council chambers.
The Veterans of Foreign Wars post was organized in November of 1945, with Charles Crozier as the commander. In 1946, they started a building here and met in the basement until the upper story was finished in 1955. The front half of the building later became the home of the Magic Moments Schooler Program.
In 1947, former police chief C.E. Sullins built this two-unit structure. During the following year, George Cosgrove opened the Clermont Dry Cleaners in it.
The former two-story city hall was built by Hayes and Kroeger, Contractors, completing it in June of 1926. They used plans prepared by Ben Irby. It was torn down in 1979.
In the mid-1920s, Roy Lassiter built a filling station and garage at this location. It later became the Feed & Garden Supply Store owned by Don Meeker and his brother, Marvin. Mr. and Mrs. Don Meeker in 1949 acquired the American Fire & Casualty Insurance Agency.
This church was organized by Rev. John W. Hanner, Jr. in 1866 with about ten members. Robert C. Hooks donated the land, and a small frame building was erected in 1891. It was known as the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.
A concrete bell tower was built on the northwest corner of the church in 1921, and the entire building was stuccoed. Electric lights were installed, the small windows were replaced with beautiful memorial windows, a basement was dug, and a furnace was added. Sunday school classrooms were added on the south end.
When the original church building needed substantial repairs in the late 1950s, the congregation instead decided to build a new one here, on a hillside overlooking Center Lake. Ground was broken on April 10, 1960, and the first service was held in it on January 1, 1961.
Willie Joe Odum and wife Amy Brown married in 1905, and they had 12 children. Both were cooks at the Lakeview Hotel. Their third home was here, built in 1940. Mr. Odum helped to build the Jacobs Chapel Baptist Church.
This building, named in the memory of Rev. A.H. Hancock, was completed in 1940. The land was donated by W.O. Percival.
The Clermont Neighborhood Center was begun in 1972 to help those who need emergency food and clothing. Its first location was in a building owned by Asbury Floyd at the intersection of Bloxham and DeSoto Sts. in Lincoln Park. It later moved into this building.
In the late 1880s, a one-room schoolhouse was built on this site. It was enlarged to two rooms in 1913-14. Children carried drinking water here from Lake Winona in a tin bucket.
The Clermont Civic Club was organized in September of 1921, incorporated the following year, and was renamed in 1927 as the Clermont Woman's Club.
The Motor Camp building designed by George Hartford was completed on this site on December 28, 1923. Construction funds had been raised by the Unity Club, and the building was intended to accommodate tourists who had driven to Clermont. It was purchased by the Woman's Club in May of 1924. By 1927, it was remodeled for a clubhouse and doubled in size.
The Clermont Welfare League was organized in the Lake Highlands Hotel in May of 1938 to establish a first aid station to help county nurses. They hoped to establish a small clinic.
In 1939, they raised funds through the efforts of Mrs. John Stokes, Mr. and Mrs. W.O. Percival, and others, and ereced a building on a lot donated by Mr. and Mrs. Percival. The one-story, 28,000 square foot building was erected with help from the W.P.A., and was completed in 1941. The name was chosen by 10-year-old Thelma Ann Cockroft in a contest conducted among school children.
In 1942, the hospital had Harry K. Stokes as its chairman, and in 1959 a new wing was dedicated in his name. A three-story addition was completed in 1972, and a few months later the Karl and Kenneth Smith Medical Reference Library was dedicated. It was torn down in about 2003.
In 1885, W.H. Eavenson bought 12 acres here and moved into their new house at this site in 1887. The house was later sold to D.G. Crenshaw.
In 1948, Publix Markets built a 51 x 111 foot building on this corner, the former site of the Blood family residence. After the Publix Market moved to the South Lake Plaza in 1965, George W. Jenkins, the founder and president of Publix, gave the building to the city for use as a civic auditorium. It was remodeled and offices were added for the Chamber of Commerce. It was formally dedicated on November 26, 1966.
Clermont's first merchant was C.S. Collins, who built a store here. In it, the first post office was established in 1884 with Collins as the first postmaster.
This lot was bought from Mrs. Alexander Kern, and a new $18,000 building was erected by C.D. Butt for the bank which had first opened across the street. Butt had come here from Virginia with wife Eliza in 1914. A contractor, he also built the Clermont Pharmacy block and the American Legion Pavilion on Lake Minneola.
This bank merged with the First State Bank of Clermont in June of 1930, combining to form the Citizens Bank of Clermont. This building has also served as the state headquarters of the Disabled American Veterans.
The office of the city clerk and the city superintendent were located in this building from 1958 to 1972.
In about 1956, Iris Westberg opened Ashley's, a ladies' wear store at this site. Later, she opened the Landseair Travel Agency.
In 1947, W.B. Harmon opened the Clermont Sundries store here. It was mainly a luncheonette and coffee shop. It was later the home of the Country Skillet restaurant.
W.E. Rorabaugh began publishing the weekly Clermont Clarion here on December 18, 1913. Later, it was the office of the McCoy and Assoc. engineering firm.
Irving Morse built this structure in 1948. In it, his wife opened the first store in town handling ladies' apparel exclusively. Ella Mae Sheldon opened the Tot 'n Teen Shop here.
Joseph and Elizabeth Tarpey arrived here on January 1, 1885, from Leeds, England. He was a carpenter and owned a small general store which stood about here into the 1910s. Their small house was across the street.
After having an office over the Hilltop Book-Nook for two years, optometrist Dr. Eugene R. Cantwell erected a new building at this location. He practiced here for 30 years.
This is approximately the site of a public market, designated by the city in 1891.
Beginning in the 1940s, this was a dry goods store operated by Ross C. Cantwell of Kieterich, Illinois. He died in 1959, and his widow Amy continued the operation until 1965.
This store building was erected for Kel's 5-10-25 Cent Store in 1958 by Oscar Cook, Sr. Later, it housed the South Lake Animal League Thrift Store.
The G.A. Mavis family established their Five and Dime Store here in 1925. In the early 1930s, they sold it to Earle Winston. In 1932, dentist Dr. C.C. Higby opened an office on the second floor. The store was bought in 1947 by Mr. and Mrs. Norris Jones, and in 1950 by Russell Grant of Orlando and Richard E. Harris of Leesburg.
Axel Olivenbaum bought the Stokes and Fields Insurance Agency in 1948, renaming it the Olivenbaum Insurance Agency. In 1952, the agency moved into a new building at this site. Later, it was the home of the South Lake Art League.
This was the Dr. A.L. Izlar Drug Store Building, which was sold to Mr. and Mrs. Gerald J. Egan in September of 1943. Into it they moved the business they had started in their home in 1940, and sold books, stationery, office supplies and gifts, and called it the Hilltop Book-Nook. From 1950 to 1952, Dr. Eugene R. Cantwell had his optometrist office upstairs.
In 1951, Arthur George erected this building for Bowman & Bowman Real Estate. Later, George owned and operated that business with W.B. (Bin) Harmon.
In the early 1950s, Harold Roberts and Travis Kennedy opened a Television & Radio Store at 642 Eighth St., then moved to this location. They continued in business here until Roberts opened a new store at the corner of SR 50 and US 27 in the early 1970s. Kennedy then opened the Clermont Appliance Company at 732 Montrose St.
Previously, this was the site of the Fain Building, which was new when the post office moved into it in October of 1946.
In 1940, this was the site of the J.E. Westbrook Grocery Store, one of the oldest businesses in town. That year, the property was purchased by B.K. Ferguson, who in 1949 remodeled it and opened Ferguson's Men's and Boys' Wear. In 1966, he sold it to Leonard Baird, Sr., and it was later The Villager, owned by Reg and Laura Cook since 1973.
The reading room of the First Church of Christ, Scientist was moved here in 1966. This, and the building next door at 783 Montrose St., were built by E.M. Fain of Leesburg in December of 1945. Later, this building housed the Sutton Gallery.
C.O. and C.W. Roe built a modern brick bank building here, where Jim Jones' general store stood before the freezes of 1894-95. The First State Bank opened here on March 1, 1913.
The bank was affiliated with The Witham System, which was forced into insolvency as a result of a suit brought by the Bank of Umatilla. This bank closed temporarily on July 16, 1926, reopened August 28, 1926, and returned to local ownership in October of 1927. It was reorganized in January of 1930, and combined with the First National Bank later that year.
Emmett Carroll opened an electric shop at this location in 1944.
In the 1880s, M.E. Wilson of Philadelphia erected a two-story building here, and in it began his general store. In 1897, the store was bought by Alexander Kern.
In Kern's General Merchandise Store, one could buy groceries, clothing, patent medicines, farm tools, soda water and ice cream. The store had a wide porch extending across the entire front with hitching racks beyond the clayed sidewalks. In about 1921, the store was acquired by Dr. Arthur L. Izlar and H.L. House, who had it torn down.
Otis K. Sickler opened his Western Auto Store in a new building here in 1949. A later tenant was Bishop's Paint, Carpet and Tile.
John D. Jones of Safety Harbor built a new red brick building here in 1921. It was 92 x 86 feet, and housed the Reliance Garage and had other commercial space. Some of it was rented to Mr. Mettleton of the Mt. Clermont Hardware, which operated at this location for 60 years. The Hannum-Williams Drug Company occupied another room, and Perry Short opened a bakery in another. Later, Jones added a theater building to the north.
G.E. (Doc) Scott's Pharmacy moved in here in 1928-29, replacing the Reliance Garage. In 1938, he opened a modernistic fountain and luncheonette in the pharmacy. The equipment was black and silver and provided every need for the ice cream, drinks and lunch business. The equipment was removed in the 1960s.
S.S. Fesler built a two-story building here in 1923, using red bricks produced by Clermont's Highland Sand Company. The Clermont Furniture Store and the Ross Variety Store rented space in it.
The Crozier family took over the undertaking business of C.O. Roe & Company, and established their headquarters in the furniture store. There was no actual funeral parlor, as it was the custom to hold services in private homes.
Shortly after Prohibition was repealed in 1933, J.H. George opended a liquor store, pool room and bar at this location. It remained a liquor store for 48 years.
This and other buildings of John D. Jones were inherited by his daughter, Hattie Zinsser. They later passed to her daughter, Mrs. Kermit O. Finch. Between 1956 and 1960, the Finches made additions and improvements, and built this new structure. Two buildings to the east were built at the same time, one for Clermont Photos & Supplies, owned by Rosemary Young, and the other for Lockmiller Real Estate.
In 1971, Mr. and Mrs. Jack Matthews bought the Hilltop Book-Nook which had been established and operated by Mr. and Mrs. Egan. They moved the business here and changed the name to Hilltop Stationery, and then to Hilltop Office Products, Inc.
This two-story wood frame building was erected in 1912 with an elevated L-shaped front porch.
In 1944, Mr. and Mrs. J.V. Brice of Groveland bought the Strehler Dry Cleaning Company, which had been operating since 1919. The Brices continued the business at this location for another 28 years.
F.N. Smith and his son, Don Smith, built a filling station here in the mid-1920s.
Sawmill man Archibald R. Gano arrived in Lake County in about 1889. He and his family had lived at Deer Island on John's Lake, at the eastern edge of the county, and moved to Clermont in the early 1890s. He built their house just west of the Lakeview Hotel. Gano's sawmill was on the Palatlakaha Creek at Villa City. Gano invented a tomato crate and built a crate mill on the shore of Lake Minneola. The house was later acquired by C.O. Roe.
George E. and Lydia Thompson came here from Cadiz, Ohio, in 1889, moved back to Ohio in 1900, and returned to Clermont in 1911. They bought the Gano house and moved it to this corner. It is now a bed and breakfast known as the Mulberry Inn.
In July of 1917, Fred Kreider bought the ice plant located here, which had been organized ten years earlier. In 1922, Kreider replaced it with the present building.
The Atlantic Coast Line Railroad built a packing house here in 1918, and leased it to A.B. McNiece. Fruit went out under the "Alpine" brand.
In 1884, the Clermont Improvement Company from New Jersey bought several hundred acres in this area. Its officers included Arthur F. Wrotnowski, whose birthplace, Clermont-Ferrand, France, gave the town its name. The development by the company is what boosted growth, which had previously been very gradual. The Orange Belt Railroad and the Tavares-Apopka and Gulf Railroad (later the Tavares and Gulf) served the town.
During the mid-1960s, the post office moved here from Montrose St. The old C.O. Roe home was torn down to accommodate the new driveway.
This barn-like house was the home of the Torrey family, until it was bought in 1920 by Carl and Eva Kindred. They later sold it to the Croziers.
John D. Jones ereced a 100 x 86 foot yellow brick building here in 1923 for Louis Zinsser, his son-in-law. At the Clermont Motor Company, he sold Fords. In 1924, the business was sold to H.R. Scott and the Zinssers moved to Safety Harbor.
The Postal Colony Company was organized in 1923 by a group of Railway Postal Clerks headed by Ernest Denslow of Ashtabula, Ohio. They aimed to provide homes for retired postal employees and supplement their retirement income through profits received from small citrus groves. The company bought 2,100 acres about 10 miles south of Clermont and in 1935 built a garage, fertilizer warehouse and service station on Eighth St. opposite the Clermont Hotel.
In July of 1943, they purchased this building, giving them control of the property north as far as the railroad tracks. The company now manages about 6,000 acres of groves.
In 1924, J.U. Johnson erected a store building on this corner. In the mid-1930s, W.F. Nagel of Birmingham, Alabama, used it as a plant for production of moisture-proof salt shakers. The company, Air Konditioning, was bought by Don McCaffrey after World War II. He built a new plant at 1166 Short St. and changed the name to Airko Manufacturing Company. The business was sold to a California company in 1975.
The original hotel here was built by Lester H. Todd in 1884. It was the most convenient hotel for people arriving by railroad, and was the only hotel until the William A. House home was converted into an "apartment hotel" soon after the turn of the century.
It was renamed the Maxham Hotel, and later the Lakeview Hotel. It was purchased by Mr. and Mrs. Kermit O. Finch, who had it torn down in 1959.
By 1890, Clermont had become the center of Florida's tomato industry. Robert Hooks, son of Herring Hooks, was the largest grower with 125 acres. When it was time to pack and ship the crop, this area was covered with tents to serve as packing houses.
The Reliance Theatre was built by John D. Jones in 1922. Fred Gleason of Greenville, Michigan, bought it in 1928-29 from Mr. and Mrs. D.L. Morrison, and had sound equipment installed in November of 1929. It was later renamed the Lake Theatre, and continued to operate here until 1960. At that time, his granddaughter, Mrs. Kermit O. Finch, substantially remodeled the building into a store for Advance Electric, owned by Joe BonJorn. At the same time, the Finches added two new stores to the north.
Edward Chestnut of Birmingham, Alabama, erected the original building on this site. W.R. Spence converted it to a 14-room hotel with dining service, and operated it for two years before selling it in 1923 to F.H. Fitch. He kept it until 1933, when he sold it to the H.E. Westfall family. They renamed it the Hotel Westfall.
It was acquired by the Christensens and Barnes in 1951, and they sold it to the Fousts in 1955. In later years, it housed transients and migrant citrus workers. In 1985, it was torn down.
A chapter of the Woodmen of the World was organized in 1906, and two years later erected a two-story building over the waters of Lake Minneola. The first floor served as a city hall, civic center, dance hall, bath house and marina. The roof was a diving platform for swimmers.
Masonic Lodge No. 226, F.& A.M. began on March 3, 1914, and initially met in the Roe Building. The following year, they moved to the second floor at this location. The building was torn down in 1933.
Nearby was the T & G workshop, which was removed in 1921 by the Clermont Beach Association. The Orange Belt Railroad depot was located to the southwest of the Woodmen building.
The Eugene Bryant Post of the American Legion was formed on November 1, 1921, at a meeting of ex-servicemen in the Hannum-Williams Drug Store. One of their first projects was the construction of a pavilion over Lake Minneola. It had a dance floor and changing rooms for bathers. It opened on June 1, 1921, and burned down in 1926.
In 1924, the Gem Potato Chip Factory opened near here, near the Munson & Bess and Clarence Stevens Warehouses.
In 1922, Perry Short, a jeweler from Monett, Montana, and his son-in-law, C.D. Baker, a banker from the same town, began construction of their homes on this corner.
Before this was the location of the Elk's Lodge, C.W. and Bess Roe had their home here. They came to Clermont from Marcus, Iowa, in 1907. The old home was sold to Charles Holbrook and moved to Groveland in 1955.
The Clermont-Groveland Elks Lodge No. 1848 was instituted on March 8, 1952, at the American Legion Center in Clermont.
In 1935, William Schlott of New York opened a photography business. He had R.C. Aland design a new studio at this location, which he built and occupied in 1948. In January of 1957, First Federal Savings and Loan Association opened for business here.
Before Oranges There Were Tomatoes: A Phographic Peek Into the History of Clermont, Florida, by H.H. Erdmann
Clermont: Gem of the Hills, by Miriam W. Johnson and Rosemary Y. Young (Rose Printing Company, Inc. 1984)
Guide to Florida's Historic Architecture, (University of Florida Press 1989)
Lake County, Florida: A Pictorial History, by Emmett Peter, Jr. (The Donning Company 1994)
Memories of Mount Dora and Lake County, by David Edgerton (1983)
Through Schoolhouse Doors: A History of Lake County Schools, by The Lake County Retired Teachers Association (Rose Printing Co., Inc. 1982)