Clearwater Beach, Florida has been a top tourist destination for many years so it is hard to believe that Clearwater Beach has any history or landmarks as drive past the towering condominium buildings.  It is not until you head north on Mandalay Avenue towards the north end of the beach and come across some of the remaining 1920's and 1930's beach cottages off of Mandalay Avenue and remaining vintage motels.  Remnants of a by-gone era continue as enter the North Beach and Carlouel sections of Mandalay.  

Even though Spanish artifacts have been excavated at the present day site of the Carlouel Yacht Club, the first recorded settler's of the island occurred in 1883.  This is not surprising considering the lack of access to the island and lack of fertile soil for farming.  The first known settler's were: Prudence Chafer who purchased a good portion of the south end of Clearwater Beach and Patrick Houston who purchased the land to the north.  The entire island was then purchased by Ernest Tate in 1897 for $200.00 and the island was referred to as "Tate's Island".  The island went into foreclosure in 1899 due to an unpaid debt and the north end of the island was purchased by Dunedin residents, Christopher Bouton and James Malone, in 1902.  The southern end was purchased by J.R. Davey, J.T. Bennett and T.H. Asbury in 1903.  

The development of the northern section of Clearwater Beach was spearheaded by L.B. Skinner in 1910-1920.  Skinner was a very savvy businessman in the citrus industry in Dunedin, hotel industry in Tampa and the development of north Clearwater Beach through his development, dredging and bridge companies.  E.T. Roux, Roux House/Clearwater Beach Hotel now the current site of the Sandpearl Resort located at 500 Mandalay Avenue, partnered with Skinner in the Clearwater Island Bridge Co. and was also a prominent name in the development of north Clearwater Beach.  It is interesting to know that many of the early beach cottages that still exist on Mandalay Avenue and cross streets were barged across Clearwater Harbor rather than being constructed on site.  

L.B. Skinner sold off the northern end of the island to T.R. Palmer, President of Continental Rubber Works, in 1933 due to the economic collapse.  In 1934, T.R. Palmer, Garret Hobart (son of 24th U.S. Vice President) and Paul Randolph created the Carlouel Company (named after the first few letters of the owner's wives: Carolyn Hobart, Louise Palmer, and Eleanor Randolph) in order to provide a West Palm Beach style yacht and tennis club and constructed beach cottages for lease to wealthy locals and northerner's who would winter in the area.  In 1947 Palmer, who became the sole owner, sold his interest to the 100 club members.  

The island has certainly been hit hard by development and many of the original structures and landmarks have been demolished over the years such as: Sandsfoot Cottage - the oldest home of record on the island, an 1890's Victorian home located at 809 Bay Esplanade and owned by the Bayly Family that was barged over to the island in 1932 and the Clearwater Beach Hotel, formerly the Roux House, which was an iconic hotel on the island is now the location of the Sandpearl Resort at 500 Mandalay Avenue.  Even though many of the early landmarks have been demolished many of the older cottages exist towards the entrance of the North Beach Section along Mandalay Avenue and cross streets and sparsely along Eldorado Avenue and Bay Esplanade, such as the original Carlouel cottage located at 1030 Eldorado Avenue, the Carlouel Yacht Club, located at 1091 Eldorado Avenue, which still functions as an exclusive and private yacht and tennis club and the Palm Pavilion, located at 10 Bay Esplanade, which incorporated in 1926 as a bathing/beach pavilion making it the oldest beach pavilion in the state of Florida.  Today, the Palm Pavilion operates as a bar/restaurant and is a favorite hangout amongst locals and tourists.  

Colleges/Universities near Clearwater Beach

• St Petersburg College (Full-time enrollment: 9,555; Location: 14025 58th Street North; Public; Website: www.spcollege.edu)
• Pinellas Technical Education Center-Clearwater  (FT enrollment: 1,057; Location: 6100 154th Ave N; Public; Website: www.myptec.org)
• Ultimate Medical Academy  (FT enrollment: 812; Location: 1218 Court St Ste C; Private, for-profit; Website: www.studymedical.com)
• Clearwater Christian College (FT enrollment: 555; Location: 3400 Gulf to Bay Blvd; Private, not-for-profit; Website: www.clearwater.edu; Offers Master’s degree)
• National Aviation Academy A & P School (FT enrollment: 457; Location: 6225 Ulmerton Road, Clearwater; Private, for-profit; Website: www.naa.edu)
• Sunstate Academy (FT enrollment: 256; Location: 2525 Drew St Clearwater Private, for-profit; Website: www.sunstate.edu)
• Florida Career College  (FT enrollment: 209; Location: 410 Park Place Blvd ClearwaterPrivate, for-profit; Website: www.careercollege.edu)
• FastTrain of Clearwater  (FT enrollment: 23; Location: 29399 US Highway 19 N-Ste 104 Clearwater Private, for-profit; Website: www.fasttrain.edu)

Other Universities with over 2000 students near Clearwater Beach

• University of South Florida-St. Petersburg Campus (about 17 miles; St. Petersburg, FL; Full-time enrollment: 2,227)
• The University of Tampa (about 19 miles; Tampa, FL; FT enrollment: 5,429)
• Eckerd College (about 19 miles; Saint Petersburg, FL; FT enrollment: 2,132)
• Hillsborough Community College (about 19 miles; Tampa, FL; FT enrollment: 11,277)
• Pasco-Hernando Community College (about 23 miles; New Port Richey, FL; FT enrollment: 4,159)
• University of South Florida-Main Campus (about 23 miles; Tampa, FL; FT enrollment: 27,329)
• Everest University-Brandon (about 26 miles; Tampa, FL; FT enrollment: 2,266)