Clearwater

History

Present-day Clearwater was originally the home of the Tocobaga people. Around 1835, the United States Army began construction of Fort Harrison, named after William Henry Harrison, as an outpost during the Seminole Wars. The fort was located on a bluff overlooking Clearwater Harbor, which later became part of an early 20th-century residential development called Harbor Oaks. University of South Florida archaeologists excavated the site in 1962 after Mark Wyllie discovered an underground ammunition bunker while planting a tree in his yard.

The area's population grew after the Federal Armed Occupation Act of 1842 offered 160 acres (0.65 km2) to anyone who would bear arms and cultivate the land. Early settlers included the Stevens, Stevenson, Sever and McMullen families, who claimed and farmed large tracts of land. Prior to 1906, the area was known as Clear Water Harbor. The name "Clear Water" is thought to have come from a fresh water spring flowing from near where the old City Hall building was located. There were many other freshwater springs that dotted the bluff, many in the bay or harbor itself.

Originally part of Hillsborough County, the first road joining Clearwater and Tampa was built in 1849, which dramatically reduced the prior day-long commute between the cities.

During the American Civil War, Union gunboats repeatedly raided the community's supplies, as most of the able-bodied men were away fighting for the Confederate Army. The town began developing in the late nineteenth century, prompted by Peter Demens' completion of the first passenger railroad line into the city in 1888. Clearwater was incorporated in 1891, with James E. Crane becoming the first mayor. The area's popularity as a vacation destination grew after railroad magnate Henry B. Plant built a sprawling Victorian resort hotel named Belleview Biltmore just south of Clearwater in 1897.

By the early 1900s, Clearwater's population had grown to around 400, ballooning to nearly 1,000 in the winter. Clearwater's oldest existing newspaper, the Clearwater Sun, was first published on March 14, 1914 (and ran until 1989). Clearwater was reincorporated, this time as a city, on May 27, 1915, and was designated the county seat for Pinellas County, which broke from Hillsborough County in 1912. In 1915, a bridge was built across Clearwater Harbor, joining the city with Clearwater Beach to the west. Clearwater Beach, although located on a separate barrier island, belongs to the city of Clearwater and fronts the Gulf of Mexico. A new, much higher bridge now arcs over the bay, replacing the former drawbridge; the connecting road is part of State Road 60 and is called Clearwater Memorial Causeway.

Timeline

1888

Settlement of Clear Water Harbor founded.

"Narrow-gauge railroad" begins operating.

1891 – Town of Clear Water Harbor incorporated.

1894 – Orange Belt Railroad begins operating.

1897 – Belleview Hotel in business in nearby Belleair.

1900 – Population: 343.

1905 – Population: 610.

1906 – Clear Water Harbor renamed "Clearwater".

1911 – Clearwater Yacht Club formed.

1912 – Clearwater designated seat of newly created Pinellas County.

1914

Clearwater Evening Sun newspaper begins publication.

Tampa and Gulf Coast Railroad begins operating.

1915 – City of Clearwater incorporated.

1916 – Public library and bridge to Clearwater Beach built.

1918 – Pinellas County Courthouse built.

1920 – Population: 2,427.

1921 – Capitol Theatre in business.

1923 – Peace Memorial Church built.

1926 – Fort Harrison Hotel rebuilt.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 39.2 square miles (101.6 km2), of which 25.6 square miles (66.2 km2) is land and 13.7 square miles (35.4 km2) (34.86%) is water.

Climate

Clearwater has a humid subtropical climate. Clearwater is far enough south that it lies in the broad transition zone from subtropical to tropical climates. As such, Clearwater is mostly warm to hot year round, with few nights of frost. Most of the annual rainfall comes in the wet season (June through September), when daily thundershowers erupt due to the strong solar heating. The dry season starts in October and runs through May, at which time the weather is sunny, dry, and there is little change in daily weather.

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 117,292 people, 48,211 households, and 27,233 families residing in the city.

In 2019, the city's population was spread out, with 18.7% under the age of 18, 59.4% between the age of 18 and 64, and 21.9% who were 65 years of age or older.

Between 2014 and 2018, the median income for a household in the city was $47,070, and the median income for a family was $46,228. 15.9% of the population fell below the poverty line.

As of the 2010 United States census, there were 107,685 people, 46,264 households, and 26,317 families residing in the city.

Languages

As of 2000, speakers of English as their first language were 84.43% of residents, Spanish as a mother tongue was 8.55%, Greek accounted for 1.16%, French made up 1.00% of speakers, German at 0.97%, and Italian speakers were 0.85% of the population.

Economy

Clearwater's economy employs nearly 50,400 people. Major employers include Morton Plant Hospital, Tech Data, and Honeywell. Employment in Clearwater grew 1.84% from 2015 to 2016 with 50,345 people in the workforce. The most common job groups include Service, Sales & Office, Science, and Business. As of 2020, the median household income for Clearwater was $50,335, which is below the average for both the United States as well as the state of Florida.

Art and culture

Tourism

The Clearwater Public Art and Design Program, adopted by City Council in 2005, is funded through a 1% allocation on all city capital improvement projects valued at more than $500,000. The program commissions an average of 2–3 new projects per year.

Pre-Capitol Theatre, a bandstand stood at 405 Cleveland Street in Downtown Clearwater, where the community gathered to listen to music. The names of locals serving in World War I were etched on the wall of the adjacent Clearwater Sun building; this "Panel of Honor" was obscured when the original Capitol Theatre was built but uncovered when the newspaper building was torn down in 2013.

The Capitol Theatre opened March 21, 1921. It was built by Senator-elect John Stansel Taylor. The theater's architect was Lester Avery and the contractor was John D. Phillipoff. Avery is known for his architecture in Miami. Philipoff also built the Coachman Building (1916), the Donald Roebling Estate in Belleair (added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979), the old Pinellas County Courthouse (added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1992), other historical homes which have been saved, and did work at the Belleview Hotel.

Groundbreaking was December 6, 1920. The "New Capitol Theatre" was damaged in a storm on October 26, 1921 (so it had been completed). A theatre organ was installed in 1922, to accompany silent films with music. The organ was made and installed by the Robert Morton Organ Company.

Donald Roebling was a frequent patron, having his own double seat installed at the theatre.

The theatre was managed by various movie companies (EJ Sparks, Paramount, ABC-Southeastern Theatres, and Plitt Southern) and played the most recent movies of the day. The theatre also offered vaudeville on Friday nights in the 1930s. Headliners included Sally Rand, Fred Stone and his daughter, and Lum and Abner (of radio). The theatre was renovated in 1962. The Morton theatre organ was most likely removed during this renovation. When Plitt Southern did not renew their contract in 1979, Bill Neville and Jerry Strain tried to save the theatre with film classics and reduced prices. However, the theatre closed its doors on October 28, 1980.

Sports

BayCare Ballpark in Clearwater is the spring training home of Major League Baseball's Philadelphia Phillies, as well as their Low-A affiliate, the Clearwater Threshers.

Parks and recreation

Moccasin Lake Nature Park is a 51-acre nature preserve (21 ha) with a 5-acre lake (2.0 ha) owned and operated by the city. The preserve also features the Moccasin Lake Environmental Education Center, which offers environmental education classes, programs and camps. The Center features live rehabilitated birds of prey, reptiles, amphibians and aquatic wildlife. It opened in 1982. The City of Clearwater contains five pools: Ross Norton, North Greenwood, Morningside, the Long Center, and Clearwater Beach. Swim lessons are offered throughout the year to patrons, and the pools have both a recreation summer pool league and the Clearwater Aquatics Team. These pools have participated in the World's Largest Swim Lesson.

Government

The City of Clearwater is administered by a council-manager form of government, and the city manager serves as the chief executive and administrative officer of the city.

The Clearwater City Council includes the mayor and four council members, each of whom serves a four-year term. The council is responsible for setting policies and making decisions on local government issues including tax rates, annexations, property code variances and large contract awards. The city manager and city council are supported by the various city departments.

Transportation

Airport

Tampa International Airport serves Clearwater and the rest of the Tampa Bay Area as the primary means of air travel. St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport has also seen its usage increase. The city owns Clearwater Air Park.

Public transportation

The Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA) bus service is currently Pinellas County's only general public transit. The service offers approximately 35 local routes, two express routes which cross Tampa Bay to the east, and a beach trolley that runs north and south along the county's roughly 25-mile-long (40 km) chain of barrier islands.

The city was formerly served by Amtrak at Clearwater station.

Church of Scientology

The Church of Scientology's "spiritual headquarters" are located in downtown Clearwater. The Church refers to Clearwater as its "Flag Land Base".

The Church of Scientology owns several historical landmark buildings including the Fort Harrison Hotel and the Clearwater Bank Building. As of 2019, Scientology had purchased so much property in downtown Clearwater that it owned most of the commercial buildings in the downtown core, many of which remained vacant. According to an investigation by the Tampa Bay Times, "The [Church of Scientology], its members and companies they control now own 185 properties that cover 101 acres in the center of downtown. Half the properties were bought since January 2017. ...Seventy-three percent of the property is [now] tax-exempt for religious purposes." By 2024, the count was up to 210 parcels purchased since 2017, including the office tower where city government offices were located, and leaving only seven remaining commercial property owners who are not associated with Scientology or government.

Beginning in the 1970s under the code-name Project Normandy, the Church of Scientology began targeting Clearwater in order to "establish area control" of the city and county. The operations were exposed in a Pulitzer Prize winning series of articles in the Clearwater Sun. Gabe Cazares, who was the mayor of Clearwater at the time, went so far as to call it "the occupation of Clearwater" and later characterized it as a "paramilitary operation by a terrorist group". The Church of Scientology targeted Cazares, attempting to entrap him in a sex scandal. Scientology also staged a phony hit-and-run accident with Cazares in an attempt to discredit him. Cazares and his wife sued the Church of Scientology for $1.5 million. The church settled with Cazares in 1986.

Sister cities

Clearwater has city partnerships with the following cities:

Nagano, Japan

Kalamaria, Greece

Wyong, New South Wales, Australia

Ixmiquilpan, Hidalgo, Mexico