Clearwater Becomes the County Seat

Up to 1914, the Pinellas peninsula was part of Hillsborough County, even though it was widely separated from the county seat in Tampa and transportation back and forth was limited.

As early as 1886, Clearwater pioneer W.A. Belcher pushed for a state law to divide the county.

Just as the issue of taxation without representation caused a heated dispute between America’s founding fathers and the English Crown more than a century earlier, taxation without return benefit became the rallying cry in West Hillsborough, as Pinellas was then called, and its fight for independence.

In 1907, after W.L. Straub, editor of the St. Petersburg Times wrote a fiery editorial describing the inequities of taxation of Pinellas residents by Tampa with little or nothing in return, the fight began to gain broad support.

In 1911, John S. Taylor, Sr. and S.D. Harris lobbied in Tallahassee for a bill to create Pinellas County. The bill passed on May 23 of that year.

Pinellas County officials launched a brand-new government in rented offices in downtown Clearwater on January 1, 1912. Clearwater was well represented among the officials of the first county government. S.S. Coachman served as a commissioner, A.C. Turner as treasurer and William A. Hart as a justice of the peace.

Controversy raged over whether Clearwater or St. Petersburg would serve as the county seat. With upper counter commissioners holding three of the five seats, Clearwater was ultimately selected.

The site of the first courthouse is currently occupied by Peace Memorial Church. The two-story courthouse was contracted to be built within 30 days for $3,750. A rumor circulated that St. Petersburg residents, unhappy with the choice of Clearwater as the county seat, planned to burn the structure down in protest.

Able-bodied volunteers were organized to work day and night to complete the courthouse swiftly. Women supported the workers with food and drink to keep them going, while shotgun-toting guards were posted around the clock until the structure was finished.