"Here's a Florida story most people don't know. In the early 1900s, a group of Greek sponge divers came to a little town called Tarpon Springs, on the Gulf Coast north of Tampa. They brought their heavy brass diving helmets and their centuries-old sponge-diving tradition. They turned Tarpon Springs into the sponge capital of the United States — and it still is today."
Florida's Greek Fishing Town
The sponge diving story of Florida centers on the town of Tarpon Springs, on the Gulf Coast about 30 miles northwest of Tampa. In the early 1900s, sponge buyers in Florida recruited experienced Greek sponge divers — primarily from the Dodecanese islands of Greece (especially Kalymnos and Symi), where sponge diving had been a way of life for centuries. The first Greek sponge divers arrived in Tarpon Springs around 1905. They brought the traditional heavy brass diving helmet and canvas suit technology — the same gear used since the 1800s in the Mediterranean. The divers found that the Gulf of Mexico had extensive natural sponge beds, and the warm waters were ideal for sponge growth. The Greek community grew rapidly; by 1910, Tarpon Springs was the largest sponge port in the United States, producing millions of dollars worth of natural sponges per year. The town became a thriving Greek community with its own language, food, religion (Greek Orthodox), and traditions — a piece of the Mediterranean transplanted to the Gulf Coast of Florida.
