The city is largely residential in character and its economy is centered in retail trade, lodging, and tourism-oriented restaurants and bars.

[12] Before European colonization and settlement, the area which is today Clermont was originally inhabited by the indigenous Timucua people.

[13] The population of the Timucua were whittled by epidemics of infectious diseases introduced by Europeans, then by attacks and slave raids largely conducted under Spanish colonial rule.

Four years later, the area of modern-day Clermont became a part of an Indian reservation under the Treaty of Moultrie Creek.

The region was geographically called the High Sand Hills by Americans, according to maps by Washington Hood.

Apshawa Groves, which owned and worked large expanses of land in the county, became a major real estate company.

[19][20] The groves, which were the namesake of the Citrus Tower, dwindled rapidly because of recurrent freezes and suburban development in the late 20th century and into the 2000s.

[21][22] From 2000 to 2020, the population grew more than 250 percent amid real estate development and urban sprawl in Central Florida.

Increased pollution from runoff and residential development has hurt the city's lakes and other natural resources.

In 2014, the city sought to market itself as a training center by adopting the slogan "Choice of Champions" and a flag with Olympic rings.

The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild winters.

Lake-Sumter State College and the University of Central Florida have a joint-use campus in Clermont.

Not all money was handed over; the cost for the last lecture was still available, and with that amount they began to organize their own library.

This was hosted in the Montrose Street home of Mrs. Payson Pierce, with the collection of books open to the town on Saturday afternoons.

The growing collection was moved to Isiah Benson's Lake Avenue house in 1910, then to the Baptist Church the following year.

[40] In the summer of 1914, the Friends of the Library raised $600 to erect a one-room building on 630 DeSoto Street, a lot donated by Alice Cooper.

[41] Mike Delaney, a Friends of the Library member, said, "It was an amazing honor to be part of the early book brigade when I was seven...It was an experience that I will never forget that brought the community together".

The building known as "Little Cooper" was moved to the Clermont Historic Village in 2009, and restored to be opened as a museum of local and world history.

Additionally, the public transit of LakeXpress serves routes along State Road 50 and South on US 27 towards Four Corners.