The Gala Decade: Freedom Magazine Presents The History of Clearwater Florida Part V

The Gala Decade: 1921 Begins Clearwater’s Boom Period

...and other landmarks of that era still stand today, restored and enjoying new life in downtown Clearwater.

The “binder boys” became legendary for the way they did business: fast turnover of property and quick profits made possible by a “binder fee,” a nominal fee “paid by the prospective buyer on the promise of a down payment to be made perhaps a month later. The profit would be reaped by the simple process of trading binders, which might pass through a dozen or more hands before the initial down payment was made,” according to Sanders.

The speculators sparked development in Clearwater and elsewhere in Pinellas County, including streets, sidewalks, and other improvements that flanked the emergence of Mediterranean revival and frame vernacular-style architecture.

A notable achievement of the era was construction of Clearwater’s first “skyscraper,” the Fort Harrison Hotel, completed in 1926. In the spring of that same year, Clearwater Beach, officially named in 1924 by an act of the state legislature, also enjoyed the fruits of the Florida boom when construction began on the 250-room Mandalay Hotel on the north end of the beach.