.mw-parser-output .hidden-begin{box-sizing:border-box;width:100%;padding:5px;border:none;font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .hidden-title{font-weight:bold;line-height:1.6;text-align:left}.mw-parser-output .hidden-content{text-align:left}You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in French. (July 2014) Click [show] for important translation instructions. View a machine-translated version of the French article. Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing French Wikipedia article at [[:fr:Clermont-en-Argonne]]; see its history for attribution. You should also add the template ((Translated|fr|Clermont-en-Argonne)) to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

Clermont-en-Argonne
Commune
The railway station
Coat of arms
Location of Clermont-en-Argonne
Clermont-en-Argonne Show map of France Clermont-en-Argonne Show map of Grand Est
Coordinates: 49°06′23″N 5°04′18″E / 49.1064°N 5.0716°E / 49.1064; 5.0716
Country	France
Region	Grand Est
Department	Meuse
Arrondissement	Verdun
Canton	Clermont-en-Argonne
Government
• Mayor (2020–2026)	Alain Chapé^[1]
Area ¹	66.94 km² (25.85 sq mi)
Population (Jan. 2020)^[2]	1,449
• Density	22/km² (56/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	55117 /55120
Elevation	163–303 m (535–994 ft) (avg. 295 m or 968 ft)
¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Clermont-en-Argonne (French pronunciation: [klɛʁmɔ̃ ɑ̃.n‿aʁɡɔn], literally Clermont in Argonne; formerly Clermont-sur-Meuse, literally Clermont on Meuse) is a commune in the Meuse department in Grand Est 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 to Verdun (RN3), which at this point is closely tracked by the A4 autoroute, on the edge of the Forest of Argonne. It is approximately 15 km to the east of Sainte-Menehould.

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 of agriculture 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 towns and cities.

History

During the Middle Ages, Clermont was the seat of the County of Clermont-en-Argonne in the Holy Roman Empire. It only became French permanently in 1641. The county was abolished in 1790.

In 1819, Norwich Duff 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 constructed in the Napoleonic period for the rapid transmission of messages between Paris and Landau; but by 1819 France's eastern frontiers had been much reduced, and the final point of this telegraph line was first Landau and after 1819 Strasbourg. The platform where the Clermont telegraph station stood still exists, as do fine views from it in the direction of Verdun 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 Paris 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^{[check spelling]} 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.