This 1937 photograph captured the Carlouel Yacht Club on a sunny afternoon just prior to a beauty contest.

More Growth for Clearwater

The first years of the Depression were a time when people suffered together. But always there was hope.

Clearwater recognized the need to continue to produce through difficult times and the city witnessed several major construction projects in the 1930s. Putting people to work was the priority.

Local residents took advantage of new government programs to turn the economic tide.

With federal funding, 1,000 people in the area were put to work on such projects as the construction of the Bay Pines Hospital and the Veterans Administration Center.

Work continued on the Davis Causeway to span Old Tampa Bay, creating one of the era’s engineering marvels. Following the vision of Captain Ben T. Davis, the causeway opened in June 1934. More people could visit Clearwater and its beaches, paying 25 cents per car and driver and 5 cents

The Davis Causeway

per passenger, with children riding free.

The Davis Causeway was later named the Courtney Campbell Causeway in honor of the man who worked diligently to improve the causeway and develop its roadside parks.

To commemorate the work of Captain Davis, the Ben T. Davis Municipal Beach on the Tampa side of the causeway was dedicated.

In downtown Clearwater, new construction was also under way.