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History · Clermont

Clermont’s post office opened in 1851, and 39% of its homes were built before 1940

6 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1915 on, and the census since 1880.

1851first post office
6on the National Register
39%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Clermont’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Clermont began

When was Clermont founded?

1851

The Clermont post office opened in 1851, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 553 in 18802020 census: 586175 years
Founding year: the first Clermont post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Clermont’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Landmarks on the Register6 places on the National Register.Old housesHalf of Clermont’s homes were built before 1958.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Clermont’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Clermont’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewClermont Iowa - 1923: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the National Register

6 historic places in Clermont

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
6
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
12
each building in a district counts
first listed
1973
Montauk
Union Sunday SchoolBigler BuildingClermont Public SchoolAbraham Lincoln Statue and Park, built 1902Church of the Saviour Episcopal Church and David Henderson Statue
BuildingsObjects

Architectural styles listings

Classical Revival2
Brick Commercial Building1
Late Victorian1
Romanesque1
MontaukBuilding
Union Sunday SchoolClassical Revival
Bigler BuildingBrick Commercial Building
Clermont Public SchoolClassical Revival
Abraham Lincoln Statue and ParkBuilt 1902
Church of the Saviour Episcopal Church and David Henderson StatueLate Victorian

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

The story so far

Clermont, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Clermont yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Clermont ( KLAIR-mont) is a city in Fayette County, Iowa, United States. The population was 586 at the 2020 census. Clermont is home to Montauk, the mansion of former Iowa governor William Larrabee, along with much historic architecture.

Its first post office opened in 1851. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 632 to 586 (-7%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Clermont, 1851 to 1923

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1851Post officeThe Clermont post office opens
  3. 1862Born hereBertha Hofer Hegner is born here
  4. 20th century
  5. 1902BuiltAbraham Lincoln Statue and Park is built
  6. 1923In the archiveClermont Iowa - 1923
By decade

Clermont, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1920s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1920s1 item
Clermont Iowa - 19231923Clermont Iowa - 1923
1930s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today4 recent
The Episcopal Church of the Saviour and David Henderson Statue2016The Episcopal Church of the Saviour and David Henders…The Clemons Public School2016The Clemons Public SchoolKerndt Brothers Savings Bank2014Kerndt Brothers Savings BankIAMap-doton-Clermont2004IAMap-doton-Clermont
Every building

Clermont, building by building, 1915

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a sheet.

Clermont fire insurance map, 1915, sheet 11915Sheet 1 of 1
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Clermont Iowa - 1923
Retake this viewClermont Iowa - 1923, 1923

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Clermont’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Clermont, census by census

020040060080018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 716

Between 488 and 716 people in every census since 1880.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Clermont’s Wikipedia page.

Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Clermont’s post office has been open since 1851.

Gone or out of use
Clermontlocale
1cemetery inside Clermont
Saint Peters

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Clermont’s history

What year was Clermont founded?

The Clermont post office opened in 1851, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Clermont?

6 listings: 5 buildings, among them the Montauk (listed 1973, the first), and 1 object. 12 historic buildings in all.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (5), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (6), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.