New Public Feature Reveals the Places Where Clearwater Gathered

The Cleveland Street Alliance has released a second public history feature continuing the story of historic Cleveland Street—this time exploring the places where Clearwater gathered, celebrated, shopped and connected during the city’s early decades.

Presented through a new “Did You Also Know?” video, the feature follows the recent “Did You Know?” release on the Telephone Building, Peoples Bank and the F.W. Woolworth Co. Building by turning to the Guaranty Building, The Colony and Brown Brothers—three landmarks that helped shape everyday life in downtown Clearwater.

Taken together, the Guaranty Building, The Colony and Brown Brothers tell the story of where Clearwater gathered—whether for civic life, fashion and shopping, or simply a meal and conversation among friends.

Among the stories highlighted:

• The Guaranty Building became home to Clearwater’s Chamber of Commerce, serving as a civic hub where visitors registered, residents gathered information and art galleries, photo exhibitions and public activities brought people into the heart of downtown.
• The Colony was once home to Stearns Millinery, a bespoke hat-making shop that connected Cleveland Street to the fashion and style of the early 20th century, when custom headwear, ribbons and fine accessories were part of downtown life.
• Brown Brothers became one of Cleveland Street’s original gathering places, known for early-morning milk runs, sandwiches, milkshakes and its world-famous hot fudge sundae—a destination remembered as much for the people who met there as the food it served.

The new feature uses archival imagery, historic references, animated recreations and present-day visuals to bring these stories forward for a modern audience, showing how the district’s buildings once supported the daily rhythms of civic life, shopping, entertainment and social connection.

While each building tells a different story, together they reveal what made Cleveland Street the center of downtown life. Visitors registered at the Chamber of Commerce, shoppers browsed fashionable storefronts and families gathered around lunch counters and soda fountains—turning the district into the social and civic heart of Clearwater.

As restoration and redevelopment continue across Cleveland Street, these stories help reconnect today’s district with the activities, experiences and gathering places that once made it the center of downtown life.

The new feature is available at clevelandstreetalliance.com.