Shortly thereafter, in 1915, Clearwater’s first hospital was constructed. The 21-bed facility was named in honor of Morton F. Plant, son of Belleview Biltmore Hotel developer Henry B. Plant. The younger Plant offered $100,000 to maintain a hospital if area citizens raised the $20,000 needed to build it. Area residents responded to the challenge, and the city donated the last $2,000 required for the hospital to be built.

Located on Jeffords Street, the hospital has since undergone several major expansions and is now one of the largest medical centers on the Suncoast.

As the city continued to grow, the Carnegie Foundation offered $10,000 to the public library, which up to that time had shared spaces with local banks, to erect a building if the city would provide the lot. The land selected is the site of today’s main library.

Access to Clearwater Beach has not always been as convenient as today, where the scenic Memorial Gardens Causeway provides a quick and pleasant drive. In olden days, one took a boat—or, if daring, swam. In 1916, a two-mile wooden bridge was constructed from the west end of Seminole Street, now a marina, to the island.

The Journey across the bridge was an adventure in itself as warpage from the heat caused the boards to pull loose from their fastenings. Boards rattled noisily as cars drove across, jostling the occupants and alerting the proprietor of the Pelican bath house on the island that the day’s business was about to begin.