by Chuck Seaver, South Lake Tablet
Two historical structures located at the Clermont Historic Village, 490 West Avenue, Clermont received some much-needed repairs recently with new roofs.
The original Cooper Memorial Library, a wooden structure built in 1914 and once located on West Desoto Street near 7th Street, received an entire roof made of stainless steel materials with a wooden appearance. The roof has a fifty-year guarantee and is deemed fireproof.
The structure was moved to the Historic Village in 2009 after a ninety-five-year existence near the present location of the Clermont City Hall. Many of the original and collective artifacts remain in the museum today. A Wall of Mayors has been dedicated within the structure, complete with some photographs, to the City of Clermont Mayors dating back to the pioneer days of the community.
A brief history of the library reveals that on May 23, 1914, it was decided by the Clermont Library Club that a permanent home was needed for the many books that had been accumulated since the club’s first meeting in 1906. Alice Cooper offered to lease a 30 x 40 foot lot on the Desoto Street site if the property was utilized to build and maintain a library. Construction of the framed building began and was completed in the summer of that same year with a cost of $600.00. The new library was complete with East Coast wood siding, heart-of-pine floors, a fireplace, plenty of windows for light and breeze flow, and 720 square feet of space to accommodate bookcases, tables, and chairs. The books and other library-related materials had been moved three different times, before finally realizing a permanent home.
Many generations of Clermont and area residents have fond memories of summer reading clubs, homework research assignments, and just simple “hanging out” with friend’s times at the old library.
The second structure to receive a roof-top makeover was the Kern Home. Although certainty cannot be established, area historians believe that the existing roof that was replaced may have been the original, metal roof that was placed on the home when it was built in 1885. The replacement roof, also made of metal, added a fresh look to the otherwise deteriorating top cover of the house.
Originally built on a large lot at 543 West Montrose Street, near 5th Street, the wood frame home was built by Alexander and Eleonora Kern, natives of New Jersey who travelled by steamship in 1884, bringing two horses and a wagon with them to the new settlement of Clermont. Alexander was one of the thirty-one pioneers who signed the original legal notice of organization on June 9, 1891, to make Clermont an official town.
Kern established the first water system in the downtown area by pumping water from Crystal Lake into a storage tower located in Kern’s backyard. He then supplied houses and businesses in the area through a small pipe from the tower to each house and business. The Kern family was active in the community in many ways, including the ownership of a General Merchandise Store located on West Montrose Street and 8th Street. Kern was also responsible for transferring many people from Yalaha over the sand hills to Clermont and Minneola. Yalaha was a popular destination by steamboat from Jacksonville. The steamboats navigated the St. Johns and Oklawaha Rivers as far south as Leesburg on Lake Griffin and then to Yalaha on the south shore of Lake Harris. Settlers would then travel by horse and wagon to the Clermont and Minneola area, a distance of about sixteen miles.
The Kern home was moved to the Historic Village in 2006, where both the home and the Cooper Memorial Library are open to the public. The Clermont Historic Village is open to the public each Saturday and Sunday from 1 pm – 4 pm. Visit clermonthistoricvillage.org for a full listing of upcoming events, membership opportunities and historic detail of the south lake community.
