The Sponge Capital of the World...Tarpon Springs, Florida!

In March of 1998 my mother and I drove from Houston, Texas to Engelwood, Florida to visit my aunt and uncle who live there for about four months of every year. We often decide to take in some sights along the way to break up the trip and also become informed about the areas of the country in which we are passing.

This time we decided to explore the Tarpon Springs area which is known far and wide for being the Sponge Capital of the World.

It is located about 30 miles north of St. Petersburg.

According to legend, the name Tarpon Springs came about due to tarpon fish being spotted offshore jumping (springing) in and out of the water.

It is a waterfront community made up of many inhabitants who originally came from Greece primarily for the sponge diving industry. Today, Tarpon Springs has more Greek-Americans living there than in almost any other U.S. city.

As the photo of a sign taken by the waterfront says, the area just naturally had a huge supply of underwater natural sponges growing there. But with the Greek influence, how they were harvested took a different turn.

Sponge diving became the norm once the Greeks led by John M. Cocoris had a large enough contingent of hearty and well trained divers on hand to take over that sponge harvesting way of earning a living. It became a multi-million dollar industry.

Heavy helmeted diving suits with oxygen hoses were made available and were utilized for gathering sponges in deep waters. In addition some of the young Greek sponge divers simply took a deep breathe and dove down into more shallow waters without any such encumbrances. Naturally they were paid according to the number of sponges they were able to harvest.

I remember thinking that the hearts and lungs of those able bodied divers would have had to have been in amazing shape to be able to accomplish what they did underwater all the while holding their breaths. It was a dangerous job but there were many willing participants, in fact, thousands of them.

I still own a first edition book titled Deep Treasure written and signed by Charles Minor Blackford lll who wrote about "A story of the Greek Sponge Fishers of Florida." The book was published by The John C. Winston Company in 1954. Written in the author's hand was the inscription "To my boy - Charles Minor the lV From his devoted Daddy - Charles Minor Blackford lll. Feb, 1954 Author copy."

Mr. Blackford then wrote "And from him Post Mortem to the one I know he would like most to have it. (My maiden name) July 19, 1969."

(Charles and I were dating and would probably have married had he not been killed in a Navy airplane crash in Pensacola, Florida.)

If you have read any of the links, you will have found out that a red tide of algae pretty well wiped out the sponge industry in Tarpon Springs in the late 1940's, but fortunately the natural sponges are once again growing and being harvested in that area.

What the sponge fishermen did in the interim period of time was turn to catching shrimp and fish. 

Tarpon Springs today has become a noted tourist area. 

If you would like to learn more about natural sponges and the history of how they have been harvested, this is the place!

If you want to learn more about Greek culture, Tarpon Springs is also the place to learn more.

Many of the older Greek sponge divers are still available to talk to tourists in the many sponge shops which abound along the old waterfront area.  My mother and I enjoyed visiting with several of them while I was purchasing some unusual and beautiful sponges for some of my art projects.

Greek restaurants abound.  You can satisfy your taste buds with savory Greek dishes in a number of places.

We were happy that we stopped and explored Tarpon Springs.  I know that I will never again look at a natural sponge without thinking of the harvesting process and all that it entails.