Henry Plant built his second grand hotel, the Swiss chalet-style Belleview, in 1896 on a high bluff overlooking Clearwater Bay. Plant envisioned the hotel as the focal point of a planned community that he called Belleair. He brought a spur of his railroad right to the hotel’s enterance, assuring convenient access by wealthy tourists and sportsman who was his targeted clientele.
For more information purchase “Florida’s Grand Hotels from the Gilded Age” by R. Wayne Ayers at your favorite book store.
