TARPON SPRINGS,THE NORTHERNMOST CITY IN PINELLAS COUNTY, IS APPR. 8 MILES NORTH OF CLEARWATER AND 30 MILES FROM TAMPA.IT IS A PLACE RICH IN HISTORY,CULTURAL DIVERSITY, AND STRIKING NATURAL BEAUTY.

THE HISTORY OF TARPON SPRINGS BEGAN IN THE LATE 1860'S WHEN THE ANCLOTE RIVER AREA WAS STILL A WILDERNESS FRONTIER.  THE REGION HAD ONCE BEEN OCCUPIED BY THE TOCOBAGO NATIVE AMERICANS, WHO DISAPPEARED IN THE 18TH CENTURY AND LATER BY THE SEMINOLES. THE FIRST WHITE SETTLERS ARRIVED IN THE AREA IN 1867, BUILDING CABINS ALONG THE BANKS OF THE ANCLOTE RIVER. LOCATED ON THE NORTH SIDE OF THE RIVER, THEIR SETTLEMENT BECAME THE TINY VILLAGE OF ANCLOTE, WHICH WAS THREE MILES WEST OF PRESENT-DAY TARPON SPRINGS. THE SETTLEMENT OF ANCLOTE IS AN IMPORTANT PART OF THE HISTORY OF TARPON SPRINGS.NEARLY A DECADE PASSED BEFORE ANY OTHER PIONEERS CAME TO THE AREA.

ALL OF THAT CHANGED WHEN IN 1881 YOUNG HAMILTON DISSTON A SHREWD PHILADELPHIA BUSINESSMAN PULLED OFF THE LARGEST REAL ESTATE DEAL IN FLORIDA'S HISTORY.HE PURCHASED 4 MILLION ACRES FOR 25C AN ACRE.DISSTON WAS A FRIEND OF FLORIDA;S GOVERNOR WILLIAM BLOXHAM,WHO DID THIS TRANSACTION TO SAVE HIS STATE FROM BANKRUPCY.

DISTON'S ASSOCIATE ANSON P.K. SAFFORD DEVELOPED THE AREA.HE IS RECOGNIZED AS THE FOUNDER OF TARPON SPRINGS.

IN 1887 TARPON SPRINGS BECAME THE FIRST INCORPORATED TOWN IN WHAT WAS THEN HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY.THE TOWN WAS THEN A FASHIONALBLE WINTER RESORT.

WITH THE DISCOVERY OF SPONGES, WHICH BROUGHT JOHN COCORIS FROM GREECE AND HIS DIVERS WITH DIVING EQUIPMENT IN TOWN. BY 1907 ,THERE WERE SEVERAL HUNDREDS GREEK IMMIGRANTS LIVING IN TOWN.

AMONG FLORIDA'S GULF COAST, TARPON SPRINGS HAS AN UNUSUALLY ROMANTIC AND DIVERSE HISTORY. IT CONTINUES TO BRING VACATIONERS BY THE THOUSANDS, BUT STILL RETAINES ITS ROMANTIC CHARACTER.

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