The first school under public administration in present-day Pinellas County was established in 1873 in a log structure originally built for the Midway Baptist Church in the area of what is now the Clearwater Municipal Cemetery. In 1884, the school moved to a one-room, wood-framed building on this site and was named the Clear Water School. The building was enlarged in 1888, and by 1902 attendance had reached 90 students. A larger two-story masonry schoolhouse was built in 1906, replacing the wooden structure, and in 1912 the site expanded again with construction of the first Clearwater High School. Later that year, high school principal Dixie M. Hollins became Pinellas County’s first school superintendent. In 1915, the campus was renamed the South Ward School. Beginning in 1951, the final school building on this site, including a kindergarten classroom, was built behind the high school. The South Ward School was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979, and although it ceased operations in 2008, it remains an important part of Pinellas County’s cultural heritage.