Clearwater Florida Walking Tour

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1. Mount Olive African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church

The Mount Olive African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church, located in the historic African-American city of Clearwater, Florida, within the Tampa-St. Pete-Clearwater metropolitan area, is a gabled building constructed in 1926. (The foundation was built in 1913-14.) It is rectangular in shape with a corner bell tower and a stucco exterior. It is located north of Clearwater's downtown commercial district, adjacent to the Pinellas Trail, in a mostly residential neighborhood of small, older, single family frame houses. According to its National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) nomination form, the church “is locally significant under Criterion A in the areas of Social History and Ethnic Heritage: Black for its association with the development of the social culture of the African American community in the city of Clearwater, Florida… [and] under Criterion C due to the Gothic Revival characteristics it displays.” The church was entered in the National Register of Historic Places on February 3, 2000.

2. Cleveland Street Post Office

This historic post office was designed by architect Theodore Skinner and completed in 1933 by the Walt and Sinclair construction firm of Florida. The building features limestone from the Florida keys and was built to resemble the seaside villas that had become synonymous with the famous resorts being built throughout this section of Florida. The post office is an anchor of Clearwater's historic district and was placed on the National Register of Historical Places in 1981.

3. The Flag Building / Super Powers Building

Standing as the largest building in the city of Clearwater, Florida, The Church of Scientology’s Flag Building serves as the keystone structure of the Flag Service Organization campus, Scientology’s “spiritual headquarters.” It is nicknamed the “Super Power” building, as it is the central facility where Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard’s “Super Power Rundown,” a secret series of teachings on unleashing personal and spiritual power, is taught. As of the publication of this profile, it is one of the newest buildings of the Church of Scientology. The building is open 24 hours per day, 365 days per year, and guided tours can be attained by visiting the nearby visitor welcome center.

4. Powell Building

The Willis B. Powell Building was completed from 1913-1914 and housed the offices and printing plant of Powells' newspaper, the St. Petersburg Independent. Powell established the newspaper in 1906, making it the first daily in Clearwater-St. Petersburg. The building was also home to the Clearwater Daily Sun-later the Evening Sun. Powell sold the Sun in 1916, declaring that he intended to take an automobile tour of the United States and return as a "free lance." The building was acquired in 2012 by the city of Clearwater as part of their effort to restore and operate the Capitol Theatre.

5. Capitol Theatre, Clearwater Florida

This historic theater reopened in 2014 following an $11 million restoration project sponsored by the city of Clearwater. Restoration efforts were given a surprise boost when Geri Trautlein donated $1 million to support the project in honor of her late husband Ray, whom she met for the first time at this theater at the age of fourteen. The building was erected in 1921 and offered movie showings and live vaudeville performances. It is one of the city's oldest operating theaters.

6. Gray Moss Inn, 1898-1990

This location was home to a hotel from 1898 to the property's acquisition by the Church of Scientology following the building's sale in 1990. In 1898, the Verona Inn opened for business. It changed its name to the Gray Moss Inn in 1926. During these years, the hotel was one of the better establishments in the city. While most of the Brooklyn Dodgers stayed in the Cleveland Hotel, players like Roscoe McGowen bragged to Sport Magazine in the 1960s that was permitted to treat his wife to accommodations at the Gray Moss. In 1959, the hotel also became the home for the studios of the radio station that is now WAZE-AM 860 Clearwater. The hotel was a Clearwater establishment for decades, but like most downtown hotels, it struggled in the face of competition by interstate hotel chains and by the 1980s, most of its rooms were being rented by the month to residents who could not afford better accommodations. A 1989 fire caused over $100,000 in damages and led to the property's sale and demolition. The site of the former hotel is now occupied by the Church of Scientology's Flag Building.

7. Fort Harrison Hotel

Built by land developer Ed Haley in 1926, the Fort Harrison Hotel in Clearwater, Florida is now one of the most recognizable buildings of the Church of Scientology. Its stands as one of the core buildings of the Flag Service Organization campus, the “spiritual headquarters” of the Church, where Church leadership hopes to help realize Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard’s vision of the future. While it once functioned as a tourist hotel, Fort Harrison now houses visiting adherents to the Church. Additionally, it is allegedly used as a part of a punitive branch of the Church known as the Rehabilitation Project Force. The Rehabilitation Project Force (RPF) is, according to previous members of the Church, a labor and imprisonment program used to punish “deviant” members of the Church’s elite sect, the Church of Scientology Sea Organization. In line with this allegation, there have been a number of suspicious deaths at the location.

8. 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.

9. Clearwater Historical Society Museum and Cultural Center

The Clearwater Historical Society Museum and Cultural Center opened in 2019 and is dedicated to preserving and promoting the county's history through its exhibits and educational programs. It is housed in the former South Ward School, which was the county's first publicly funded school. It operated until 2008 and sat vacant until the museum and cultural center opened. The former school was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.

This Tour is a Walking Tour.

Clearwater Florida Walking Tour

Created by Sara Norton on November 3rd 2016, 8:13:58 am.

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Description

Enjoy this mile-and-a-half walking tour that offers a glimpse into Clearwater's past. Starting at the Clearwater Historical Society and Museum and moving to the county courthouse and several historical hotels, the tour then visits the city's landmark 1921 theater (fully restored in 2014). This tour offers a chance to "go back in time" and experience Clearwater's early schools, hotels, businesses, and public buildings. Highlights include the Cleveland Street Post Office, Pinellas County Courthouse, and the Gray Moss Inn- a hotel that once stood at the location of the Church of Scientology's Flag Building. The tour concludes at Mount Olive AME Church.

Entries on This Tour

Clearwater Florida Walking Tour

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