Tarpon Springs

Tarpon Springs is a Gulf Coast city in Florida built largely around the natural sponge industry established by Greek immigrant divers in the early twentieth century. The Sponge Docks remain a working waterfront where boats still bring in harvested sponges, and the Sponge Exchange continues to operate as a commercial outlet for natural sponge goods. A bronze memorial at the docks honors the Greek divers whose labor shaped the city’s economy and character. The Greek-American community that grew around the sponge trade remains central to Tarpon Springs’ identity.