Old Pinellas County Courthouse

Completed in 1918, the Old Pinellas County Courthouse served as the seat of county government for several decades and now houses a law library and modern courtrooms. City leaders built it in fear that they would lose the county seat to St. Petersburg unless they erected a modern courthouse to replace the previous one, which was rather hastily-completed in 1911. The building is also notable for its Neoclassical Revival architecture. Designed by architect Francis J. Kennard, the most interesting feature is the grand portico with large Ionic columns supporting an entablature. The old courthouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1992.

Pinellas County was part of the adjacent Hillsborough County, which was established in 1834 from Alachua County. Pinellas Peninsula remained sparsely inhabited until the 1890s when the Orange Belt Railroad was built down to St. Petersburg. By then, Tampa, which is the county seat of Hillsborough County, had become a thriving commercial and tourist center. By 1900, however, the peninsula remained generally isolated as most of the county tax revenue was reinvested into Tampa. As a result, communities in the peninsula did not receive much funding or county services. Few tourists ventured into the peninsula as well.

This situation began to change in 1901 when the new owner of the St. Petersburg Times, William L. Straub, started writing editorials criticizing Tampa for ignoring the peninsula. In 1905, he began calling for the creation of a new county in an editorial titled, "The Pinellas Declaration of Independence." After years of effort, and attempts by Hillsborough County politicians to stop the process, residents voted in favor of the new county in November 1911. The first courthouse, a wood-frame structure, was built quickly in just 30 days.

However, to gain support of the new county, Straub made a compromise that made Clearwater the county seat for twenty years. Officials in St. Petersburg soon came to regret this agreement, as only two members from St. Petersburg served on the county's five-member commission. The three other members of commission, who were from the northern part of the peninsula, voted to build the courthouse in Clearwater. As a result, many in St. Petersburg believed Clearwater "stole" the courthouse and, apparently, bitter feelings between the two communities remained for several decades. To illustrate this tension, during the construction of the first courthouse, armed guards protected the site after rumors spreading claiming people from St. Petersburg would come burn the building down.

In 1915, the courthouse had become too small for the county and plans were set in motion to erect the present building. It was completed on July 7, 1918 and additions were built in 1924 and 1926. Other changes were made in 1936.

Hansen, Howard. "Old Pinellas County Courthouse." National Park Service - National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form. June 25, 1992. https://npgallery.nps.gov/AssetDetail/NRIS/92000828.