Clermont-en-Argonne (, literally ''Clermont in Argonne''; formerly Clermont-sur-Meuse, literally ''Clermont on

Meuse The Meuse ( , , , ; wa, Moûze ) or Maas ( , ; li, Maos or ) is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a ...

'') is a

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

in the

department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

Grand Est Grand Est (; gsw-FR, Grossa Oschta; Moselle Franconian/ lb, Grouss Osten; Rhine Franconian: ''Groß Oschte''; german: Großer Osten ; en, "Great East") is an administrative region in Northeastern France. It superseded three former administr ...

in north-eastern France. The former towns of Auzéville-en-Argonne, Jubécourt, and Parois were joined to Clermont-en-Argonne in 1973.

Geography

The town is located along the old road from

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

Verdun Verdun (, , , ; official name before 1970 ''Verdun-sur-Meuse'') is a large city in the Meuse department in Grand Est, northeastern France. It is an arrondissement of the department. Verdun is the biggest city in Meuse, although the capital ...

( RN3), which at this point is closely tracked by the

A4 autoroute The A4 Autoroute, also known as autoroute de l'Est (), is a French '' autoroute'' that travels between the cities of Paris and Strasbourg. It forms parts of European routes E25 and E50. It is France's second longest after the A10 autoroute ...

, on the edge of the

Forest of Argonne The Forest of Argonne () is a long strip of mountainous and wild woodland in northeastern France, approximately east of Paris. The forest measures roughly long and wide filled with many small hills and deep valleys formed by water run-off fr ...

. It is approximately 15 km to the east of

Sainte-Menehould Sainte-Menehould (; german: Sankt Mathilde) is a commune in the Marne department in north-eastern France. The 18th-century French playwright Charles-Georges Fenouillot de Falbaire de Quingey (1727–1800) died in Sainte-Ménéhould. It was the s ...

. Clermont's population has declined slightly in the last decade to 1,642 (in 2004), which gives a population density of 24.7 inhabitants per km². The

mechanisation Mechanization is the process of changing from working largely or exclusively by hand or with animals to doing that work with machinery. In an early engineering text a machine is defined as follows: In some fields, mechanization includes the ...

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

that took place during the 20th century left this region, which remains overwhelmingly rural, short of employment opportunities: Clermont's economy has tended to suffer from the drift of working age populations to the

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an or ...

s and

cities A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be de ...

History

During the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

, Clermont was the seat of the County of Clermont-en-Argonne in the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 un ...

. It only became French permanently in 1641. The county was abolished in 1790. In 1819,

Norwich Duff Admiral Norwich Duff FRSE (15 August 1792 – 21 April 1862) was a Royal Navy officer. Life The son of Captain George Duff RN, and Sophia Dirom, he was born at 9 South Castle Street, Edinburgh. He entered the Royal Navy in July 1805, just befo ...

wrote 'Clermont en Argonne is a very small town situated on the side of a hill on top of which there is a telegraph, a small church, and very extensive and fine views'. The telegraph station was one in line of a

semaphore line An optical telegraph is a line of stations, typically towers, for the purpose of conveying textual information by means of visual signals. There are two main types of such systems; the semaphore telegraph which uses pivoted indicator arms and ...

constructed in the

Napoleonic period The Napoleonic era is a period in the history of France and Europe. It is generally classified as including the fourth and final stage of the French Revolution, the first being the National Assembly, the second being the Legislativ ...

for the rapid transmission of messages between Paris and

Landau Landau ( pfl, Landach), officially Landau in der Pfalz, is an autonomous (''kreisfrei'') town surrounded by the Südliche Weinstraße ("Southern Wine Route") district of southern Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is a university town (since 1990) ...

; but by 1819 France's eastern frontiers had been much reduced, and the final point of this telegraph line was first

and after 1819

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label= Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...

. The platform where the Clermont telegraph station stood still exists, as do fine views from it in the direction of

to the east. (A line of trees blocks the former panoramic view to the west.) The telegraph line closed in 1852, the year when the rail road linking

to Strasbourg was opened. The Clermont telegraph station was destroyed in or before 1916, when the platform on which it had stood was used as the mounting position for a large gun. Back in 1819 Norwich Duff also recorded that the town 'is said to have manufacturies of paper and glass, but I did not see any of them. Clermont might easily be fortified'. At the foot of the hill, Clermont is still a small town, its centre not radically 'improved' during the 20th century. It boasts (at least) one excellent restaurant.

Geography

History

See also