The Plumb House was built circa 1896 on the northwest corner of Lakeview and South Fort Harrison Avenues. Originally, the Plumb House served as a paint store on the first floor and apartments upstairs. The construction of the Plumb House coincided with the beginning of the settlement of Belleair, a tiny community which sprang up in concert with the construction of the grandiose Hotel Belleview (circa 1896). The Belleview was built by railroad magnete Henry Bradley Plant as a resort to lure wealthy tourists, industrial barons, and other tycoons to this idylic section of Florida’s West Coast. In the early 1900’s, the paint store was moved east out into an old abandoned and overgrown orange grove.
Acquired by Ralph and Florence Plumb, the structure was converted into a single-family home at this time. An upper story porch was removed and a wrap-around veranda was added on the ground floor along with a kitchen and dining room. Mary and Kathleen Plumb were born in the Plumb House and spent most of their lives there. Their grandmother, Jennie Reynolds Plumb, was Clearwater’s first paid public school teacher in 1873. Kathleen was an early principal of South Ward School. Mary was secretary/treasurer and cofounder of First Federal of Clearwater, which became Fortune Federal Savings.
