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Turner Bungalow

The home, built in 1915, is of the distinct Florida vernacular bungalow style of that time period.

This historic residence was originally located at 801 S. Fort Harrison Avenue, Clearwater. This historic structure was the home of Alfred Cleveland and Amber Clark Turner and remained in the family throughout its history. The last resident of the home was their daughter, Geraldine Clark Turner.

Geraldine “Jere” Turner bequeathed her family home to Pinellas County, along with $100,000 in moving costs and the contents of the 1915 bungalow. Thousands of objects and archival materials spanning 100 years of family history were discovered in the house, most in excellent condition. These included toys and games, glassware and china, personal accessories, pottery, clothing, furniture, artwork and items from the Belleview Biltmore Hotel. See many of these objects on display in the Ralph Reed Gallery in the Visitor Center!

The home was relocated from downtown Clearwater to Heritage Village in January 2014 to save it from demolition after her death.

Here it would be protected from further deterioration and restored to preserve the historic value of the structure, providing Pinellas County residents and visitors the opportunity to enjoy and learn from this important piece of Clearwater’s history and of the history of Florida Vernacular architecture.

Heritage Village is seeking donations to restore and preserve the historic value of the structure, providing visitors the opportunity to enjoy and learn from this important piece of Clearwater’s history and the history of Florida vernacular architecture.

Family History:

TURNER, Arthur Campbell (1844-1929, the son of David B. and Mary Campbell Turner, father of Alfred Cleveland Turner, came to the Pinellas Peninsula in 1851 and moved to the then named Clear Water Harbor in 1854. Arthur Campbell Turner was a Confederate veteran and became a leading citizen of the area. He served as postmaster, as had his father before him, publisher of the West Hillsboro Times, member of the Pinellas County Commission and the frst treasurer of Pinellas County.

At twenty-one years of age he became justice of the peace, later a member of the Clearwater City Council & member of the Board of Education. The A.C. Turner Store, Clearwater's first general store opened in 1872. The store was first located just west of the present Morton Plant Hospital, but soon moved to the foot of Cleveland Street. Turner purchased the West Hillsboro Times newspaper in 1884 from Dr. J. L. Edgar & Joel McMullen, and sold it in 1892 to R. J. Morgan who moved it to St Petersburg, where it eventually became the St. Petersburg Times, now the Tampa Bay Times. He had three wives and 20 children. The first wife Keziah (Aunt Kezzie Kilgore) the mother of the first nine Turner children, died in childbirth. The second wife was Lillian Eugenia (Ramage) the mother of five Turner children and the third wife was Anna Lydia (Kempton) the mother of six of his children.

Turner, Alfred Cleveland (1889-1981), son of Arthur and Lillian Turner, was a Clearwater native. His wife was Amber Clark Turner (1892-1971), who was born in Pittsburgh, Allegheny, Pennsylvania.
Turner, Amber Vivian (1915-2004), the daughter of Alfred and Amber Clark Turner, was a Clearwater native and a lifelong resident. She graduated from Clearwater High School in 1933 and taught school there for 35 years. She was a member of the pioneer Turner family that came to the Belleair-Clearwater area in 1852. She graduated in 1937 from Florida State College for Women, now Florida State University, and received a master's degree in education from the University of Florida. She was treasurer of Pinellas Pioneers for 20 years and secretary for many years of the Clearwater Historical Society.
Turner, Geraldine “Gere” Clark (1922-2013), was born in Clearwater, the daughter of Alfred and Amber Clark Turner, sister of Amber Vivian Turner. She attended Clearwater Junior High in Greenwood and graduated from Clearwater High School class of 1939-40. Gere received her BA in English from Florida State College for Women (now Florida State University) in 1944; she went on to earn a Masters degree from the University of Florida '56. She was an FSU benefactor to academic program through the James D. Westcott Legacy Society. Gere taught at the St. Petersburg Junior College for many years. She was a member of the Clearwater Historical Society, the St. Pete Tiger Bay Club, the American Association of University Women and a benefactor of the Florida Orchestra.

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