Visitors to Florida looking to experience living history should really consider a visit to the city of Tarpon Springs. Whether you’re there to watch divers harvest live sponges from the ocean floor or do a little deep-sea fishing, there’s a whole lot more to this famous Florida city than the sponge docks and shops along Dodecanese Boulevard.

Tarpon Springs was originally established as a vacation resort on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico for the wealthy northern visitors. The local Castle Winery – built to resemble a Federal-style building from the early 1800s – is a testament to this era with its bubbling fountains and a lush courtyard used today to host tastings of its hand crafted wines.

The resort nature of Tarpon Springs changed a bit in the 1890s, when it was discovered that the Gulf waters held a bountiful supply of sea sponges. Soon after, the sponge diving industry became the community’s most important industry. Greek divers who once earned a living harvesting sponges from the floor of the Mediterranean soon immigrated to Tarpon Springs and by the 1930′s, the sponge trade had become a million dollar a year industry.

Today the Sponge Exchange area is now a shopping district rich with the lively flavor of its Greek heritage. A stroll through the quaint downtown area provides visitors with picturesque views lit with unique streetlights and dotted with antique shops, art galleries, wineries and interesting little stores.

When you visit the area, consider a stop at any or all of these great points of interest:

• Tarpon Springs Heritage Museum
• St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Cathedral
• St. Michael’s Shrine
• Tarpon Springs Historical Society
• The Safford House
• The Castle Winery

Each year, visitors can also enjoy the Annual Fine Arts Festival on the Bayou, and the ever popular Epiphany Celebration, which attracts thousands of spectators from around the world, giving Tarpon Springs its nickname of “Epiphany City.”

I hope you enjoyed this article about Florida and hope that you come and visit us soon. With so many things to do and see, you’re sure to find something for just about any lifestyle or recreational taste.

About the Author

Kevin Sandridge is a Florida Mortgage broker and author of the Florida Mortgage [http://www.floridamortgageblogger.com/about/] Blogger website.

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