The Historic Clermont Hotel
The train doesn't stop here anymore - in fact, there aren't any tracks.  At one time the cityof Clermont, Georgia thrived because of the railroad.   The wealthiest man in the area wasT.C. Miller.  T.C. has been given credit for having the city surveyed and platted and he became Clermont's first mayor.  Being a true businessman, he preferred only a limited exposure to the community service although he was very active behind the scenes, especially financially.  Being the city's wealthiest businessman and landowner, he was in a position to get first hand knowledge of new growth and financial opportunities.  Upon learning that the Gainesville & Northwestern Railroad was planning to lay tracks throught the new town, he quickly set out to build a hotel to attract overnight guests.  The result was the Clermont Hotel.   News spread fast about the two story, 13,000 square foot hotel.  Soon guests from Atlanta and beyond were putting the hotel on their stop-over list and telling their friends about this town - its fresh air and quaint life style.  It's reputation spread far and wide.  The town was first called "Concord Church Community".   In 1892, the post office opened and the town was named "Dip".  In 1905 the refreshing new name "Clermont" (clean mountain) was adopted.

In 1905 until 1910, the town was busy building and growing.   Not to be outdone, T.C. Miller put his money in a dream and began building the grand Clermont Hotel.  Although the upstairs was mainly twenty guest rooms, tea rooms and one single bath; the downstairs boasted a fine lobby with huge chandeliers, a large dining room and a kitchen.  The rest of the downstairs housed a department store where guests and local residents could buy items that had only been seen in catalogs.   It opened up a new world to the citizens and nearby moutain people.

Soon a mercantile store opened across the street that attracted the farmers on their way to Gainesville to sell their crops.  Selling and trading became a way of life in this growing community.  Many farm families treated themselves to a night in the grand hotel while others spent their nights in their covered wagons.

One of the biggest drawing spots was the high academic learning place named Chattahoochee High School.  Many families moved to Clermont so their children could attend the school as residents rather than boarders.  The school's reputation was so high in learning excellence that boarders came from all over the state and took up lodging at the boarding school.  Families. of the students stayed at the hotel.

Located only thirteen miles north of Gainesville, the city of Clermont consisted of the Chattahoochee High School, a hotel, bank, drug store, furniture store, a railroad station and three blacksmith shops.  Note...there were no cars, thus, no garages or gas stations.  T.C. Miller bought the first car in the area.

The antiquish grandeur of the Clermont Hotel of today stands as a testimony of the reputation and attraction of the building to the masses and individuals.   T.C. Miller started it and it flourished in its time, but when its lifeline - the railroad - was discontinued, the hotel withered and so did the town.  Throughout its history, the hotel has been the life blood of this city.  When the hotel did well, the city did well.  A few owners of the hotel has held the life of the city in their hands and out of love for the hotel, kept it alive.  In the 1930's, John Milton Haynes bought the hotel and it became the "Haynes Hotel".  By the 1970's, the hotel was in bad shape and put up for sale.  On an antique buying trip, Atlanta antique shop owner, Sara Herndon saw the huge structure and said, "I believe it will house all the furniture I could ever buy."  She decided to buy the hotel, but found it had already been sold to a man who intended tearing it down for the brick.   Sara bought it from him and after almost rebuilding it from scratch, she name it "The Colony House".  A renowned collector and seller of authentic antique reproductions, she literally put Clermont on the map and the forgotten town became a mecca for distant art lovers.  Her antique furniture and collectibles rivaled the big city shops.  In 1982, Sara became ill and had to sell the hotel.

In 1984, the historic Clermont Hotel was purchased by Glenn and Cheryl Plumlee.  It was suffering and in dire need of visionary re-construction.   Glenn Plumlee has specialized in historic restoration and Cheryl Plumlee is a veteran interior designer and when they saw the hotel it just "called out" to them.  After an arduous four year renovation which included installation of eleven bathrooms, a commercial kitchen, central heat and air and other major structural ammenities; not to mention ecclectically furnished ambiance with antiques and period collectables; all of a sudden, they were open and became innkeepers!!  Glenn and Cheryl had in the past traveled world-wide and were all of a sudden in a small town of 500 people which was rich in history and tradition which has yet to be discovered by many who would really appreciate it's unique personality.  This led them into many interesting personal situations that could only be experienced in a town of this size.  They are presently the resident innkeepers and have had the pleasure of attending to a variety of occasions from a romantic weekend escape for two to private family reunions, weddings, holiday parties, a local academy senior prom and many wonderful and memorable experiences.   So it seems that they have found that creativity comes in many different packages.

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