Editing Clearwater, Florida (section)

==History==
Present-day Clearwater was originally the home of the [[Tocobaga]] people. Around 1835, the [[United States Army]] began construction of [[Fort Harrison, Florida|Fort Harrison]], named after [[William Henry Harrison]], as an outpost during the [[Seminole Wars]].<ref name="auto2">{{Cite web|title=A History of Clearwater Florida|url=http://cometoclearwater.com/a-history-of-clearwater-florida/|access-date=October 22, 2020|website=cometoclearwater.com|language=en-US}}</ref> 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.<ref name="auto2"/>

The area's population grew after the Federal Armed Occupation Act of 1842 offered {{convert|160|acre|km2}} to anyone who would bear arms and cultivate the land.<ref name="auto1">{{Cite web|title=History {{!}} City of Clearwater, FL|url=https://www.myclearwater.com/news-info/about-us/history|access-date=October 22, 2020|website=www.myclearwater.com}}</ref> Early settlers included the Stevens, Stevenson, Sever and McMullen families, who claimed and farmed large tracts of land.<ref name="auto1"/> 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, Florida|Hillsborough County]], the first road joining Clearwater and Tampa was built in 1849, which dramatically reduced the prior day-long commute between the cities.

[[File:Florida - Brandenton through Clearwater - NARA - 23936571 (cropped).jpg|thumb|Clearwater in 1932]]
During the [[American Civil War]], [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] gunboats repeatedly raided the community's supplies, as most of the able-bodied men were away fighting for the [[Confederate States Army|Confederate Army]].<ref name="auto2"/> The town began developing in the late nineteenth century, prompted by [[Peter Demens]]' completion of [[Orange Belt Railway|the first passenger railroad line into the city]] in 1888. Clearwater was incorporated in 1891, with James E. Crane becoming the first mayor.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://clearwaterhistory-nineties.theflaglandbase.org/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010302025959/http://clearwaterhistory-nineties.theflaglandbase.org/|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 2, 2001|title=Clearwater Roars Into the 1900s- Freedom Magazine Presents The History of Clearwater Part III|website=clearwaterhistory-nineties.theflaglandbase.org|access-date=June 18, 2016}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.clearwatersun.org|title=The Clearwater Sun - Smallest of the World's Leading Newspapers|website=www.clearwatersun.org|access-date=June 18, 2016}}</ref> 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 [[Florida State Road 60|State Road 60]] and is called [[Clearwater Memorial Causeway]].

During [[World War II]], Clearwater became a major training base for US troops destined for Europe and the Pacific. Virtually every hotel in the area, including the Belleview Biltmore and the [[Fort Harrison Hotel]], was used as a barracks for new recruits.<ref name="auto2"/> Vehicle traffic was regularly stopped for companies of soldiers marching through downtown, and nighttime blackouts to confuse potential enemy bombers were common practice. Pre-development Sand Key was used as a target by [[U.S. Army Air Corps]] fighter-bombers for strafing and bombing practice.

===Timeline===
* 1888
** Settlement of Clear Water Harbor founded.{{r|Hellmann2006}}
** "Narrow-gauge railroad" begins operating.{{r|Hellmann2006}}
* 1891 – Town of Clear Water Harbor incorporated.{{r|Hellmann2006}}
* 1894 – [[Orange Belt Railroad]] begins operating.{{r|Hellmann2006}}
* 1897 – [[Belleview-Biltmore Hotel|Belleview Hotel]] in business in nearby [[Belleair, Florida|Belleair]].<ref name=CityHistory />
* 1900 – Population: 343.<ref name=census1905>{{citation |chapter=Population of Cities and Towns |chapter-url= https://books.google.com/books?id=rn0zAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA185 |title=Census of the State of Florida...1905 |year = 1906|publisher=Capital Pub. Co. |location=Tallahassee }}</ref>
* 1905 – Population: 610.<ref name=census1905 />
* 1906 – Clear Water Harbor renamed "Clearwater".{{r|Hellmann2006}}
* 1911 – [[Clearwater Yacht Club]] formed.
* 1912 – Clearwater designated [[county seat|seat]] of newly created [[Pinellas County, Florida|Pinellas County]].<ref name=CityHistory>{{cite web |url=http://www.myclearwater.com/news-info/about-us/history |title=About Us: History |work= Myclearwater.com |publisher=City of Clearwater |access-date= April 20, 2017 }}</ref>
* 1914
** ''Clearwater Evening Sun'' [[List of newspapers in Florida|newspaper]] begins publication.<ref name=LOC>{{cite web |url= http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/search/titles/results/?city=Clearwater&rows=50&state=Florida&page=1&sort=date |title=US Newspaper Directory |location=Washington DC |work=[[Chronicling America]] |publisher=Library of Congress |access-date= April 20, 2017 }}</ref>
** [[Tampa and Gulf Coast Railroad]] begins operating.{{r|Hellmann2006}}
* 1915 – City of Clearwater [[Local government in the United States|incorporated]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://localgov.fsu.edu/readings_papers/Boundaries%20of%20Government/Munincipal_Incorporations_in_Florida.pdf |year=2001 |title=Overview of Municipal Incorporations in Florida |author=[[Florida Legislature|Florida Legislative Committee on Intergovernmental Relations]] |location=Tallahassee |series=LCIR Report |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170428092419/https://localgov.fsu.edu/readings_papers/Boundaries%20of%20Government/Munincipal_Incorporations_in_Florida.pdf |archive-date=April 28, 2017}}</ref>
* 1916 – Public library and bridge to [[Clearwater Beach]] built.<ref name=CityHistory />
* 1918 – [[Old Pinellas County Courthouse|Pinellas County Courthouse]] built.{{r|Hellmann2006}}
* 1920 – Population: 2,427.
* 1921 – [[Capitol Theatre (Clearwater, Florida)|Capitol Theatre]] in business.<ref name=cinema>{{cite web |url= http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/united-states/florida/clearwater?status=all |title=Movie Theaters in Clearwater, FL |work=CinemaTreasures.org |publisher= Cinema Treasures LLC |location=Los Angeles |access-date= April 20, 2017 }}</ref>
* 1923 – Peace Memorial Church built.{{r|Federal Writers' Project 1939}}
* 1926 – [[Fort Harrison Hotel]] rebuilt.
* 1930 – Population: 7,607.
* 1948 – WTAN [[List of radio stations in Florida|radio]] begins broadcasting.<ref name=Radio1964>{{citation |title=Yearbook of Radio and Television |oclc=7469377 |year=1964 |publisher= Radio Television Daily |location=New York |chapter= United States AM Stations: Florida |chapter-url= https://archive.org/stream/r00radi#page/180/mode/2up |via=Internet Archive }} {{free access}}</ref>
* 1950 – Population: 15,581.
* 1953 – Palm Drive-In cinema in business.<ref name=cinema />
* 1959 – WAZE [[List of radio stations in Florida|radio]] begins broadcasting.<ref name=Radio1964 />
* 1970 – Population: 52,074.
* 1972 – [[Clearwater Marine Aquarium|Marine Science Center]] established.{{r|Hellmann2006}}
* 1976
** [[Church of Scientology]] headquartered in Clearwater.{{r|Farley2004}}
** Countryside Six cinema in business.<ref name=cinema />
* 1978 – May 4: [[Tornadoes of 1978|Tornado]] occurs.{{r|Hellmann2006}}
* 1980 – Population: 85,170.
* 1984 – Regional [[Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority]] formed.
* 1998 – City website online (approximate date).<ref>{{cite web |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/19981212023751/http://www.ci.clearwater.fl.us/ |url-status= dead |url= http://www.ci.clearwater.fl.us:80/ |archive-date= December 12, 1998 |title= City of Clearwater, Florida Home Page |via= Internet Archive, [[Wayback Machine]] |df= mdy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20000824034333/http://officialcitysites.org/Florida/Cities/C/ |url= http://officialcitysites.org:80/Florida/Cities/C/ |url-status= dead |archive-date= August 24, 2000 |title= United States of America: Florida |work= Official City Sites |editor1= Kevin Hyde |editor2= Tamie Hyde |location= Utah |oclc= 40169021 |df= mdy-all }}</ref>
* 2004 – [[Clearwater Public Library System|Clearwater Public Library]] new building opens.
* 2005 – [[Clearwater Memorial Causeway]] opens.
* 2010 – Population: 107,685.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/table/PST045216/1212875 |title= Clearwater city, Florida |work=QuickFacts |publisher=U.S. Census Bureau |access-date=April 20, 2017 }}</ref><ref>{{citation |url=http://edr.state.fl.us/Content/area-profiles/index.cfm |work=2010 Census Detailed City Profiles |author1=[[Florida Legislature|Florida Legislative Office of Economic and Demographic Research]] |author2=U.S. Census Bureau |year=2011 |title= City of Clearwater }}</ref>
* 2012 – [[George Cretekos]] becomes mayor.
* 2013 – Church of Scientology's [[Super Power Building]] dedicated.
* 2017 – [[Charlie Crist]] becomes [[U.S. representative]] for [[Florida's 13th congressional district]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.govtrack.us/congress/members |title=Members of Congress |work=[[GovTrack.us|GovTrack]] |author=Civic Impulse, LLC |location=Washington DC |access-date=April 20, 2017 |archive-date=April 11, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170411222055/https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* 2018 – The [[shooting of Markeis McGlockton]] receives national attention and triggers a debate regarding [[stand-your-ground law]]s.<ref>{{cite web|last=Martinez|first=Gina|url=https://time.com/5346981/florida-stand-your-ground-markeis-mcglockton/|title=A Fatal Shooting Is Sparking New Debate About Florida's Stand Your Ground Law. It Could Be Even Harder to Prosecute This Time|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|date=July 25, 2018|access-date=August 18, 2018}}</ref>