Tarpon Springs is a city in Pinellas County,

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and ...

, United States. The population was 23,484 at the 2010 census. Tarpon Springs has the highest percentage of

Greek American Greek Americans ( el, Ελληνοαμερικανοί ''Ellinoamerikanoí'' ''Ellinoamerikánoi'' ) are Americans of full or partial Greek ancestry. The lowest estimate is that 1.2 million Americans are of Greek descent while the highest e ...

s of any city in the US. Downtown Tarpon Springs has long been a focal point and is undergoing

beautification Beautification is the process of making visual improvements to a town, city, or urban area. This most often involves planting trees, shrubbery, and other greenery, but frequently also includes adding decorative or historic-style street lights and ...

History

The region, with a series of

bayou In usage in the Southern United States, a bayou () is a body of water typically found in a flat, low-lying area. It may refer to an extremely slow-moving stream, river (often with a poorly defined shoreline), marshy lake, wetland, or creek. They ...

s feeding into the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United ...

, was first settled by white and black farmers and fishermen around 1876. Some of the newly arrived visitors spotted

tarpon Tarpons are fish of the genus ''Megalops''. They are the only members of the family Megalopidae. Of the two species, one (''M. atlanticus'') is native to the Atlantic, and the other (''M. cyprinoides'') to the Indo-Pacific Oceans. Species a ...

jumping out of the waters and so named the location Tarpon Springs. The name is said to have originated with a remark of Mrs. Ormond Boyer, an early settler from South Carolina, and who, while standing on the shore of the Bayou and seeing fish leaping exclaimed, "See the tarpon spring!' However, for the most part, the fish seen splashing here were mullet rather than tarpon. In 1882, Hamilton Disston, who in the previous year had purchased the land where the city of Tarpon Springs now stands, ordered the creation of a town plan for the future city. On February 12, 1887, Tarpon Springs became the first incorporated city in what is now Pinellas County. Less than a year later on January 13, 1888, the Orange Belt Railway, the first railroad line to be built in what is now Pinellas County, arrived in the city. During this time the area was developed as a wintering spot for wealthy northerners.

Sponge industry

In the 1880s, John K. Cheyney founded the first local

sponge Sponges, the members of the phylum Porifera (; meaning 'pore bearer'), are a basal animal clade as a sister of the diploblasts. They are multicellular organisms that have bodies full of pores and channels allowing water to circulate throu ...

business. The industry continued to grow in the 1890s. Many people from

Key West Key West ( es, Cayo Hueso) is an island in the Straits of Florida, within the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Island, it cons ...

and the

Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the a ...

settled in Tarpon Springs to hook sponges and then process them. A few Greek immigrants also arrived in this city during the 1890s to work in the sponge industry. In 1905, John Cocoris introduced the technique of sponge diving to Tarpon Springs by recruiting divers and crew members from Greece. The first divers came from the

Saronic Gulf The Saronic Gulf ( Greek: Σαρωνικός κόλπος, ''Saronikós kólpos'') or Gulf of Aegina in Greece is formed between the peninsulas of Attica and Argolis and forms part of the Aegean Sea. It defines the eastern side of the isthmus of ...

islands of

Aegina Aegina (; el, Αίγινα, ''Aígina'' ; grc, Αἴγῑνα) is one of the Saronic Islands of Greece in the Saronic Gulf, from Athens. Tradition derives the name from Aegina, the mother of the hero Aeacus, who was born on the island an ...

and Hydra, but they were soon outnumbered by those from the

Dodecanese The Dodecanese (, ; el, Δωδεκάνησα, ''Dodekánisa'' , ) are a group of 15 larger plus 150 smaller Greek islands in the southeastern Aegean Sea and Eastern Mediterranean, off the coast of Turkey's Anatolia, of which 26 are inhabited ...

islands of

Kalymnos Kalymnos ( el, Κάλυμνος) is a Greek island and municipality in the southeastern Aegean Sea. It belongs to the Dodecanese island chain, between the islands of Kos (south, at a distance of ) and Leros (north, at a distance of less than ...

Symi Symi, also transliterated as Syme or Simi ( el, Σύμη), is a Greek island and municipality. It is mountainous and includes the harbor town of Symi and its adjacent upper town Ano Symi, as well as several smaller localities, beaches, and areas ...

and Halki. The sponge industry soon became one of the leading maritime industries in Florida and the most important business in Tarpon Springs, generating millions of dollars a year. The 1953 film ''

Beneath the 12-Mile Reef ''Beneath the 12-Mile Reef'' is a 1953 American Technicolor adventure film directed by Robert D. Webb and starring Robert Wagner, Terry Moore and Gilbert Roland. The screenplay was by A.I. Bezzerides. The film was the third motion picture made ...

'', depicting the sponge industry, takes place and was filmed in Tarpon Springs. In 1947, a

red tide A harmful algal bloom (HAB) (or excessive algae growth) is an algal bloom that causes negative impacts to other organisms by production of natural algae-produced toxins, mechanical damage to other organisms, or by other means. HABs are sometimes ...

algae bloom wiped out the sponge fields in the

, causing many of the sponge boats and divers to switch to

shrimping The shrimp fishery is a major global industry, with more than 3.4 million tons caught per year, chiefly in Asia. Rates of bycatch are unusually high for shrimp fishing, with the capture of sea turtles being especially contentious. A shrimper is ...

for their livelihood, while others left the business. Eventually, the sponges recovered, allowing for a smaller but consistent sponge industry today. In the 1980s, the sponge business experienced a boom due to a sponge disease that killed the Mediterranean sponges. Today there is still a small active sponge industry. In 2007 and 2008, the City of Tarpon Springs established Sister City relationships with

, Halki,

, Hydra, and

Larnaca, Cyprus Larnaca ( el, Λάρνακα ; tr, Larnaka) is a city on the south east coast of Cyprus and the capital of the district of the same name. It is the third-largest city in the country, after Nicosia and Limassol, with a metro population of 144 ...

, honoring the close historical link with these Greek-speaking islands.

Historic sites

There are several districts or properties in Tarpon Springs that have been listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

: * Tarpon Springs Greektown Historic District *

Tarpon Springs Historic District The Tarpon Springs Historic District is a U.S. historic district in Tarpon Springs, Florida. It is bounded by Read Street, Hibiscus Street, Orange Street, Levis Avenue, Lemon Street and Spring Bayou, encompasses approximately , and contains 14 ...

* Arcade Hotel * Old Tarpon Springs City Hall * Old Tarpon Springs High School * Safford House * Rose Hill Cemetery *

Tarpon Springs Depot The Tarpon Springs Depot is a former railroad depot built by the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad in 1909, located in downtown Tarpon Springs, Florida at 160 East Tarpon Avenue within the Tarpon Springs Historic District. The former rail line that se ...

Many sites related to the sponge industry within the Greektown District also have been recognized. They include but are not limited to two sponge packing houses: * E.R. Meres Sponge Packing House * N.G. Arfaras Sponge Packing House And several boats: * N.K. Symi (Sponge Diving Boat) * St. Nicholas III (Sponge Diving Boat) * St. Nicholas VI (Sponge Diving Boat)

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of th ...

, the city of Tarpon Springs has a total area of , of which is land and (45.83%) is water.

Climate

Tarpon Springs' climate borders on

humid subtropical A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...

and tropical savanna, with warm temperatures year-round, although winter nights are cool. Annual precipitation is around . Winters are warm, with daytime highs of to , and nightly lows of to . Freezing temperatures ( or lower) occur infrequently, while snowfall is extremely rare; there was accumulation in 1977 and 1989, while the years 1899, 1954, 1958, 1973, 2001, 2006, 2010, and 2014 either saw light snow mixed with rain, or flurries. The record low temperature of was observed on four different dates: December 1, 1962, December 13, 1962, December 14, 1962, and January 13, 1985. Summers are hot and very humid, causing frequent afternoon

thunderstorms A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder. Relatively weak thunderstorms are somet ...

that can occasionally produce

hail Hail is a form of solid precipitation. It is distinct from ice pellets (American English "sleet"), though the two are often confused. It consists of balls or irregular lumps of ice, each of which is called a hailstone. Ice pellets generally fal ...

, and, even

tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, alt ...

es or

waterspout A waterspout is an intense columnar vortex (usually appearing as a funnel-shaped cloud) that occurs over a body of water. Some are connected to a cumulus congestus cloud, some to a cumuliform cloud and some to a cumulonimbus cloud. In the ...

s off the

. Daytime temperatures usually range from to , with temperatures over very rare. The record high temperature of was observed on July 10, 1997. Spring and fall are generally warm.

Demographics

As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses inc ...

of 2000, there were 21,003 people, 9,067 households, and 5,947 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 10,759 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 90.07%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...

, 6.15%

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 0.29% Native American, 1.04% Asian, 0.06%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/ racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...

, 0.81% from other races, and 1.57% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties for ...

or Latino of any race were 4.33% of the population. 11.8% of the total population reported their ancestry as Greek, which is included in the 90.07% White statistic. 8.87% reported speaking

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

at home, while 3.46% speak Spanish, and 1.09%

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

. There were 9,067 households, out of which 22.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.2% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between ...

living together, 10.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.4% were non-families. 29.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.27 and the average family size was 2.78. In the city, the population was spread out, with 19.2% under the age of 18, 6.2% from 18 to 24, 23.9% from 25 to 44, 25.9% from 45 to 64, and 24.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 45 years. For every 100 females, there were 91.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.1 males. The median income for a household in the city was $38,251, and the median income for a family was $46,316. Males had a median income of $36,356 versus $25,252 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the city was $21,504. About 7.7% of families and 9.8% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 16.1% of those under age 18 and 7.9% of those age 65 or over. The town's Rose Cemetery, where black residents are

interred Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...

, is believed to contain burials which began in the late 1800s; the earliest legible marked burial is from 1904. The cemetery contains the grave of Richard Quarls, a Confederate veteran of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...

who fought alongside his enslaver before moving to Tarpon Springs and choosing the new name "Christopher Columbus", and veterans of subsequent wars. Image:SpongesTarponSprings.jpg, Natural sponges in Tarpon Springs Image:Dodecanese Avenue in Tarpon Springs.jpg, Dodecanese Avenue Image:SpongeDocks.jpg, Sponge docks Image:Tarpon Springs FL.jpg, Sponge boats Image:Tarpon spgs.jpg, Tarpon Springs Boy Scouts wearing fustanellas (1960)

Arts and culture

Epiphany celebration

Tarpon Springs is known for elaborate religious ceremonies hosted by the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Cathedral, part of the

Greek Orthodox Church The term Greek Orthodox Church ( Greek: Ἑλληνορθόδοξη Ἐκκλησία, ''Ellinorthódoxi Ekklisía'', ) has two meanings. The broader meaning designates "the entire body of Orthodox (Chalcedonian) Christianity, sometimes also cal ...

, including the January 6 Epiphany, celebration that includes youths diving for a cross and the blessing of the waters and the boats. Since the first Greek immigrants depended on the sea and their boats for their livelihood, their attachment to a religious service centered on requesting divine protection for what used to be a highly risky job can be easily explained. The celebration attracts Greek Americans from across the country, and the city's population is known to triple in size for that day. The

Metropolitan Metropolitan may refer to: * Metropolitan area, a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories * Metropolitan borough, a form of local government district in England * Metropolitan county, a typ ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...

usually presides over the blessings, sometimes joined by the

Archbishop of America The Archdiocese of America, better known as the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, is a jurisdiction of the Eastern Orthodox Church under the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. It was formally constituted in 1922 and has had seven Archbi ...

. The blessings conclude with the ceremonial throwing of a wooden cross into the city's Spring Bayou, and boys ages 16 to 18 dive in to retrieve it: whoever recovers the cross is said to be blessed for a full year.

Tourism

Spongeorama's Sponge Factory (Tarpon Springs, Florida) 01

Dodecanese Avenue in the Greektown Historic District of Tarpon Springs is both part of the traditional Greek community and the city’s primary tourist destination. The street winds its way from Pinellas Avenue west along the Anclote River. Numerous restaurants serve traditional

Greek cuisine Greek cuisine ( Greek: Ελληνική Κουζίνα) is the cuisine of Greece and the Greek diaspora. In common with many other cuisines of the Mediterranean, it is founded on the triad of wheat, olive oil, and wine. It uses vegetables, ol ...

and fresh seafood. The nearby beaches, part of the Pinellas County parks, are popular for water activities. Sandy

barrier island Barrier islands are coastal landforms and a type of dune system that are exceptionally flat or lumpy areas of sand that form by wave and tidal action parallel to the mainland coast. They usually occur in chains, consisting of anything from a ...

s off shore shift position over time with the waves and storms. They are accessible by boat and are especially ideal for shell spotting and watching

bottlenose dolphin Bottlenose dolphins are aquatic mammals in the genus ''Tursiops.'' They are common, cosmopolitan members of the family Delphinidae, the family of oceanic dolphins. Molecular studies show the genus definitively contains two species: the comm ...

s at play. One permanent island,

Anclote Key Anclote Key is an island off the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida, the largest island in the Anclote Keys, located at near Tarpon Springs. Its name originates from the Spanish term for "anchor." The island is accessible only by boat and ...

, is a State Park Preserve with a historic lighthouse, bird nesting colonies and pristine beaches. The Tarpon Springs Heritage Museum in Craig Park offers a permanent exhibition about the history and culture of the Greek Community. The Cultural Center at 101 W. Pinellas Avenue has a changing roster of exhibits about local and regional traditional culture. The Safford House Museum on Parkin Court is a historical house museum that tells the fascinating story of one of the city's early families. The Depot Museum on Tarpon Avenue provides an overview of Tarpon Springs history. The Tarpon Springs Performing Arts Center is a 300-seat theater located inside of historic City hall, 324 Pine Street, and operates year-round bringing an array of nationally touring artists, musicians, dancers, etc. as well as a variety of community theatre plays featuring local actors and directors.

Infrastructure

Police

The Tarpon Springs Police Department has 48 sworn officers. Of those, 29 are assigned to the patrol division.

Library

The Tarpon Springs Public Library is the public library that services Tarpon Springs, Pinellas, and the greater Tampa Bay area. The library was founded in 1916 Julia Roswell Smith Inness who was the daughter of the owner of the Century Publishing Company. The library is a member of the Pinellas Public Library Cooperative.

Notable people

* Doug Ault, as a rookie with the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

, he hit 2 homeruns (and the team's first 2 HRs) in the team's historical inaugural game. After baseball, he lived in Tarpon Springs *

Michael Bilirakis Michael Bilirakis (born July 16, 1930) is an American politician and lawyer from Florida. He was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives since 1983 until 2007, representing the 9th District of Florida. Early life Th ...

, former United States representative (1983–2007) *

Gus Bilirakis Gus Michael Bilirakis ( ; born February 8, 1963) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the U.S. representative for since 2013. A member of the Republican Party, he first entered Congress in 2007, where he succeeded his father Michael Bi ...

, United States representative (2007–) * Charles Bishop, caused the 2002 Tampa Cessna 172 crash, inspired by the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...

* Chris Coghlan, outfielder for the

Miami Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park. The fra ...

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is locate ...

and 2009 Rookie of the Year * Mason Cole, offensive tackle for the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play th ...

Dieselboy Damian Higgins (born 1972) better known by his stage name Dieselboy, is an American drum and bass DJ and music producer. Early life Dieselboy was born Damian Higgins in Tarpon Springs, Florida in 1972. At the age of six he moved to Color ...

, electronic music artist *

Billy "The Kid" Emerson William Robert Emerson (born December 21, 1925), known during his recording career as Billy "The Kid" Emerson and more recently as Rev. William R. Emerson,''Juke Blues'' magazine, # 58, 2005, pp.11-21, Interviews with Emerson is an American preac ...

, preacher and former rock and roll pianist and songwriter *

Elaine Esposito Elaine Esposito (December 3, 1934 – November 25, 1978) held the record for the longest period of time in a coma according to ''Guinness World Records'', having lost consciousness in 1941 and eventually dying in that condition more than 37 y ...

, former record holder of the longest coma *

Wayne Fontes Wayne Fontes (; born February 2, 1940) is a former American football coach and college and professional football player who was the head coach of the National Football League's Detroit Lions from 1988 to 1996. His 67 wins and 71 losses are each t ...

, former NFL coach for the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at For ...

Bertie Higgins Elbert Joseph "Bertie" Higgins (born December 8, 1944) is an American singer-songwriter. In 1982, Higgins had a top 40 album with ''Just Another Day in Paradise''. It spawned the hit song "Key Largo", which referenced the Humphrey Bogart and La ...

, singer of "Key Largo" * William W. Kingsbury, United States House of Representatives, territorial delegate from

Minnesota Territory The Territory of Minnesota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 3, 1849, until May 11, 1858, when the eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Minnesota and west ...

* Themistocles Leftheris, 2006 Olympian (with Naomi Nari Nam) in pairs figure skating *

Lois Lenski Lois Lenore Lenski Covey (October 14, 1893 – September 11, 1974) was a Newbery Medal-winning author and illustrator of picture books and children's literature. Beginning in 1927 with her first books, ''Skipping Village'' and ''Jack Horner's Pie: ...

Newbery Medal The John Newbery Medal, frequently shortened to the Newbery, is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), to the author of "the most distinguished cont ...

-winning children's author * 2 Pistols, rapper * Artavis Scott, wide receiver for the

Los Angeles Chargers The Los Angeles Chargers are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Chargers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division, and ...

In popular culture

* Tarpon Springs is referenced by Cmdr. Tucker in '' Star Trek: Enterprise'' episode " The Crossing". * Tarpon Springs is referenced in Ring Lardner's short story "The Golden Honeymoon". * A character in Allen Drury's novel '' The Throne of Saturn'' is referenced as "The Greek Loner from Tarpon Springs". * Tarpon Springs is the setting and primary filming location of the 1954 film '' Beneath the Twelve-Mile Reef'' which follows the lives of a family of Greek sponge fishermen and depicts the annual Epiphany celebration.

References

External links

City of Tarpon Springs official website
{{Authority control Cities in Florida Cities in Pinellas County, Florida Greek-American culture in Florida Greektowns in the United States Populated places on the Intracoastal Waterway in Florida Sponge diving 1876 establishments in Florida Populated places established in 1876