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uninvited guests who may have let themselves in clandestinely.	The
building even weathered the innominious usage by some World War II traitors who reportedly sent signals from its higher reaches to confederates who were refueling German U-boats from Clermont Harbor.
But, it was said by some, it could not survive the careless placement of a floundering flambeau in its basement on opening night.
We never knew for sure.
One thing is certain. It was not for the insurance. The Sea Coast Echo reported $11,000 of insurance against a value of $40, 000. My own recollection was that the insurance was for $9,000 or less. At any rate, it was all my father had been able to buy, as Clermont Harbor then, as now, had no fire hydrants.
To know the story of the hotel, one may begin at the beginning.	For
Clermont Harbor, this traces back to February 28,	1837, when the U.S. Land
Office at Jackson sold 571.34 acres at $1.25 per acre to Peter Chambliss and Charles Lacoste, of Natchez. The latter had evidently lost his enthusiasm for his half of the purchase by 1848, as he allowed part of it to be auctioned from the court house steps of Natchez for five cents per., acre. This brought a total of $6.49 for $129.85 acres.
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