Celebrating Community Tarpon Springs: Reflections on 125 Years

City of Tarpon Springs, Florida 1887–2012 Celebrating Community: Tarpon Springs, Reflections on 125 Years

Edited by Genevieve Crosby, Phyllis Kolianos, Kathleen Monahan, Ph.D., and Cynthia Tarapani Chapter Authors: Jeff Moates, Gary R. Mormino, Ph.D., Ellen J. Uguccioni, Brent R. Weisman, Ph.D., R. Lynn Whitelaw Cover and Book Design by Genevieve Crosby Cover Art: Tarpon Springs Port by George Inness, Jr., 1853-1926 (oil on canvas). Used by permission. The Cici and Hyatt Brown Museum of Art, Daytona Beach, Florida.

Acknowledgments This publication was a cooperative project of the City of Tarpon Springs Cultural and Civic Services Department and the Tarpon Springs Area Historical Society. The project was enhanced by assistance from reviewers Roy Hunt, Dan Fox, and University of Florida student Alexandra Haley, editorial intern. Grateful appreciation is extended to Mr. & Mrs. Christopher M. Still for their generous use of images of Christopher Still’s historical paintings, In Ages Past and Changing Tides; the Unitarian Universalist Church of Tarpon Springs for allowing photographs of the Inness paintings to be included in this book, to Cici and Hyatt Brown for their generous use of the images of Tarpon Springs Port and Fishing Near Tarpon Springs, 1917 by George Inness, Jr., from their collection, and to David Swoyer, curator.

Tarpon Springs Area Historical Society

This publication has been financed in part with historic preservation grant assistance provided by the National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, administered through the Bureau of Historic Preservation, Division of Historical Resources, Florida Department of State, assisted by the Florida Historical Commission. However, the contents and opinions do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the Department of the Interior or the Florida Department of State, nor does the mention of trade names or commercial products constitute endorsement or recommendation by the Department of the Interior or the Florida Department of State. This program receives Federal financial assistance for identification and protection of historic properties. Under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, as amended, the U.S. Department of the Interior prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, age, national origin, religion, sex, disability, or sexual orientation in its federally assisted programs. If you believe you have been discriminated against in any program, activity, or facility as described above, or if you desire further information, please write to: Office of Equal Opportunity, U. S. Department of Interior, National Park Service, 1849 C Street, NW, Washington, DC 20240. 4 Foreword

arpon Springs’ residents and visitors alike should find this collection of articles celebrating the City’s 125 years of Thistory a fascinating journey through time. Five noted authors share their expertise, illuminating diverse facets that make this community unique.

Known widely as the sponge capital of the world and for the Greek culture supporting it, this volume sheds light on the area’s prehistory through archaeology, its broad maritime heritage, an arts legacy built upon two generations of the In- ness family, the town’s extraordinary richness in both “high style” and vernacular architecture, and the dramatic changes brought to Tarpon Springs by World War II. Significant photographs from the archives of the Tarpon Springs Area His- torical Society and important artwork from the area add visual dimension.

Not mentioned by the authors, but in my mind of enormous consequence in the history of post-World War II Tarpon Springs, is the bypassing of the city by today’s US Highway 19. What may well have been deemed an adverse commercial effect 60 years ago has resulted in a historic built environment and cultural landscape thanks to the historic preservation movement this bypassing indirectly enabled.

The success of historic preservation in Tarpon Springs demonstrates that preservation is not backward-looking or against progress. Instead, preservation has sought to manage the future so as not to spoil the very qualities of life that have made Tarpon Springs so attractive in the first place. Here one sees that historic preservation is not an end in itself, but a strategy to achieve neighborhood stabilization, economic development, community conservation, and tourism development. A bright future for Tarpon Springs lies, in part, in its past. Roy Hunt Distinguished Service Professor of Law Emeritus University of Florida Gainesville, Florida

Left: The Tarpon Springs Sponge Docks, c. 1915 and 2010.

5 Chapter 1

Prehistory, Archaeology, and the Early Years Brent R. Weisman, Ph.D.

In Ages Past by Christopher M. Still (2002, oil on linen, 126 in. x 48 in.). Florida House Chambers in the State Capitol, Tallahassee. 6 Celebrating Community: Tarpon Springs, Relections on 125 Years

uman beings first came to the Paleoindians. Very little is known the Paleoindians has disappeared, HTarpon Springs area at least about them and probably will never everything about stone tools—how 12,000 years ago. The world they be known. There were not many of and when they were made, what they saw was very different from today. them and they made very little im- were made from, what they were used The earth was in the throes of the pact on the land. Parts of the land for—has attracted a great deal of ar- Great Ice Age. A massive volume of where they lived were on the conti- chaeological attention. the planet’s oceans were frozen into nental shelf now submerged beneath mile-high mountains of glacial ice. the Gulf of Mexico. Paleoindians and the Florida Indians The climate was cooler and drier that came after them were not inter- than it is now because so much of The Paleoindians almost certainly ested in digging deep holes or tun- the available water was locked up in hunted, fished and gathered plant neling shafts into the earth to get the ice. Worldwide sea levels were much foods on this broad flat stretch of kind of rock they needed for their lower, exposing vast areas of conti- land, especially in areas where riv- tools. The ideal rock had to be ac- nental shelf as dry land. Sea levels ers and streams cut their way across cessible, plentiful, and easily worked were low enough to reveal continent- the sands toward the Gulf’s edge. and sharpened into serviceable sized land masses such as Beringia, Some archaeologists have spent their knives, spearpoints, and cutting edge the 1000-mile wide now-submerged careers in the quest for submerged tools for working wood and fleshing terrain that connected northern remains of this Paleoindian way of hides. This ideal rock was found in Asia with North America, bridging life, but the underwater world is slow the Tarpon Springs area in outcrops what is now Siberia to present-day to give up its secrets. Around water from Bailey’s Bluff south to Caladesi Alaska. The first human inhabitants holes and springs Paleoindians hunt- Island. Known as “chert,” this rock of North America hunted their way ed mammoths, mastodons, ancient was formed inside the limestone across this terrain, moving ever east bison, and land tortoises—animals sediment laid down when Florida and south across the continent. They that would not survive the end of the was covered by shallow seas, long did not come all at once, and some Ice Age. Archaeologists sometimes before the Ice Age during the Mio- may have come by boat and skirted find fossilized bones of these animals cene geological epoch more than 10 their way south along the Pacific that show butcher marks from stone million years ago. Limestone con- coast, but it was these people whose tools or even death by spearpoint. tains the fossilized remains of many descendants made their way into Because stone tools are imperish- tiny marine organisms, both plant Florida. Archaeologists call them able and nearly everything else of and animal. Over millions of years,

7 Prehistory, Archaeology, and the Early Years as these muds turned into rock, About 10,000 years ago silica from some of these tiny skel- the climate was becoming etons became concentrated within warmer and the melted gla- the limestone to form chert. This cial ice was returning to the same shallow sea was also home to sea. Warmer temperatures ancient coral reefs, some of which and rainfall became more also became fossilized stone. Fortu- common, and the earth be- nately for the Indians, the silica in came a wetter place than chert and coral gave them glass-like it had been for more than qualities and they could be sharp- a million years. This was a ened into very effective tools. Chert, new geological epoch called and more rarely coral, were found in the Holocene. Sea levels abundance in rock outcrops. These continued to rise as the ice outcrops, which supplied the raw caps shrank. Vast areas of materials that were so vital to the In- land became submerged as dians’ stone tool technology, became the oceans expanded. The important resources and were used continent of Beringia, once Tarpon Springs area spear points. Collection of Richard & Vickie for many thousands of years. Chert the gateway to the Americas, fell be- Hague, on display at the Tarpon Springs Heritage Museum. and coral became the anchor of In- neath the covering seas of the Arctic dian existence in the Tarpon Springs Ocean. Florida’s broad continen- by generation, native peoples were area over those thousands of years of tal shelf was covered by the Gulf of adjusting to life in this new Florida prehistory. One can walk the bluffs Mexico, submerging territory once and were discovering that they could and shoreline today and see where roamed by the Paleoindians. Animals live quite well. Archaeologists call these people of long ago came to that had adapted to Ice Age climate the early part of this adjustment the do their work. They are known best could not survive in this warmer Archaic period, spanning the years by what they have left behind—the world. About 4,500 years ago Florida from about 10,000 to 6,000 years ago. many flakes of rock discarded as a became the Florida we know today, tool was shaped from a lump of stone, in size, shape, and by the types of Many opportunities presented them- and every so often a stone tool itself, plants and animals that characterize selves for life in this new watery broken, worn out, or simply lost. its natural communities. Generation world. As wetlands formed in low ly-

8 Celebrating Community: Tarpon Springs, Relections on 125 Years ing areas along the coast and in the river drainages of the interior, fish and shellfish found conditions perfect for growth and reproduction, and they began to live there in great abundance. Although humans certainly knew how to fish and collect shellfish from time immemorial, they now had the opportunity to make this natural bounty a dietary main- stay. The plentiful oysters, clams, and fish provided a steady nutritious diet making it possible for more people to live together over longer periods of Black dirt midden. Photo courtesy of the Tarpon Springs Area Historical Society. time. The need to pick up and move to follow the seasonal cycles of game how these people lived and how they mounds “middens.” Many of them animals was no longer as important. saw their world. At the places where remain beneath the homes and yards People could find everything they they lived—along the bayous and of residential Tarpon Springs. Some needed in the local environment. The backwaters of the Anclote River and parts of a midden contain shells estuaries were rich sources of food. in the coastal marshes—prehistoric which were thrown out after meat Life was more secure than it had been Floridians discarded the remains of was removed and eaten. Some areas for the earlier Archaic people or the their everyday life: oyster shells, fish of middens are mostly blackened Paleoindians. Populations grew and bones, turtle shells, the occasional soil that can show where people more people were living in this area deer bone, a broken stone tool, bits lived and how they spent their time. of Florida than ever before. of charcoal, and lenses of ash from Carefully peeling back the layers cooking fires. Over hundreds of years through archaeological excavation This new wetlands way of life brought as these piles of trash grew larger, provides an experience of traveling many changes to prehistoric Indian they came to resemble small mounds through time to a distant world, so culture. Archaeologists have much and became raised features of the far removed from our own yet exists more to work with in understanding landscape. Archaeologists call these right beneath our feet.

9 Prehistory, Archaeology, and the Early Years

types to mark different time periods and seeds. Pottery makes food prep- Sifting through these midden layers and sets of related pottery types to aration and consumption more effi- also reveals pottery not found in the define archaeological cultures and cient. Furthermore, pottery is made earlier Archaic and Paleoindian cul- areas. Based on the presence of spe- from wet clay, and wet clay invites the tures. Pottery, made from clay into cific pottery types, it is known that decorative impulse. Pottery is a me- different shapes for different pur- after the Archaic period the prehis- dium of human creative expression, toric people of Tarpon Springs par- no less so in antiquity than in the ticipated in the Deptford, Weeden modern world. Like their contempo- Island, and Safety Harbor archaeo- raries across Florida and elsewhere logical cultures. These cultures are in native North America, the Indians named after sites where these pottery of Tarpon Springs decorated their families were first recognized and de- pottery using a variety of styles and fined. Beginning with the Deptford techniques. To decorate the wet clay Period (about 500 bce) and ending surfaces of their pots, they pressed in Safety Harbor times in the centu- carved wooden paddles into the ries before the first Europeans came clay to create simple linear designs, Pot found in the Safford Mound. Courtesy of the Tarpon Springs Area Historical Society. to Florida (in the early 1500s) na- complicated circular or curvilinear tive peoples lived and thrived on the patterns, and waffle-iron-like grids. poses and fired to make it hard and bounty of land and sea. They cut in sharply incised designs usable, but when broken ended up in with pointed sticks, bones, or shells, the household trash, became a layer It is unclear exactly where or by stippled in patterns of small punc- in a midden. Archaeologists delight whom pottery was first invented or tuations, and cut away areas of clay in finding pottery because it gives how many times or how the idea of to create raised designs. Their de- them new insights about how these pottery making first came to Florida, signs were not random or free-form, ancient people interacted with their but its uses are well known. It is very but very regular, patterned, and tra- environment and with each other. good for boiling soups or stews made ditional. Designs were passed down Because styles of pottery decoration from plants and small bits of meat from one generation to the next with and the kinds of clay mixes used dif- too small to roast, like small fish and styles and methods that were nearly fered across regions and by time pe- shellfish. Pottery bowls were used to unchanged over hundreds of years, riod, archaeologists can use pottery serve food and to store water, nuts evidence that family life and society

10 Celebrating Community: Tarpon Springs, Relections on 125 Years were stable for long periods of time. seeking the finest pottery made in was on his way to more fame as the When big changes in pottery design prehistory dug up burial mounds in discoverer of the “Court of the An- are seen—as for example when the el- acts of wanton destruction. Digging cient Pile Dwellers” in the muck of egant and precise motifs on Weeden up burial mounds is now against the Key Marco on Florida’s southwest Island pottery became careless and law in Florida and in many other coast. Temporarily delayed in Tarpon clumsy on pottery of the Safety Har- states except in special and highly Springs, awaiting use of the converted bor period—it indicates that some- regulated circumstances. If on federal sponge boat that would serve as the thing changed in the way people property, digging up mounds violates base of his Marco expedition, Cush- were living. Pottery alone does not federal law, but great damage has al- ing busied himself with exploring give all the answers, but does hold ready been done. Some damage, al- the archaeology of Tarpon Springs, important clues. though not intentional, was even quickly learning of and then organiz- done by archaeologists in an earlier ing digging crews for the excavation Pottery also provides insight into the era when excavation techniques were spiritual world of prehistoric Flo- less precise. Unfortunately, this was ridians, especially how they saw life the fate of the two best-known pre- after death. Pottery was placed in historic burial mounds in the vicinity burial mounds with the dead. Some of Tarpon Springs. of it was specially made for funereal purposes: it may have held food and In January 1896 the first of these, drink for the deceased; it was placed named the Safford Mound, after the on the sand used to cover the dead prominent Tarpon Springs resident to consecrate the burial; and some of Anson Safford, was excavated by it may have been owned by the de- the Smithsonian Institution’s Frank ceased. As populations grew in the Hamilton Cushing. Cushing, one of Tarpon Springs area and people be- the most colorful and controversial gan to stay put for longer and longer figures in the early history of Ameri- periods of time, they communally can anthropology, was already fa- honored their dead by interring them mous as the “man who lived with the with special rituals in burial mounds Indians” for his previous in-depth made of sand. In recent years people study of the Zuni Indians. Now he Frank Hamilton Cushing, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution [Item ID: Port 22]. Used by permission.

11 Prehistory, Archaeology, and the Early Years of the Safford Mound on the edge of hundreds of years that the mound downtown, and the Hope Mound lo- was in use. Some of the vessels had cated in a wooded hammock some been “killed” by intentionally knock- seven or eight miles to the north. ing a hole out of the bottom. Cushing also found objects made of galena, As it appeared to Cushing, the Saf- mica, and greenstone, which indicat- ford Mound was 6 feet tall and 128 ed long-distance trade with cultures feet across. He directed a local crew to the north. of laborers to dig a trench to a depth Cushing thought that Safford Mound of almost 10 feet, slicing through the was a ceremonial center, the long- middle of the mound itself into the standing sacred hub of the region’s natural ground below. This revealed ritual life. The Hope Mound was a pit dug before the mound was start- excavated by the expedition’s artist ed, which was below two subsequent Wells Sawyer while Cushing focused Medicine bottles found on the Safford property during excavation. Photo courtesy of the Tarpon distinct layers of soil used to build the on Safford. It was taller and more Springs Area Historical Society. mound. In Cushing’s estimate at least conical than Safford Mound and had 600 complete or partial skeletons fewer burials (perhaps only 50). It in the burial ceremony when the were buried in the layers through- also had three layers, but showed a corpses were exposed above ground out the mound, some in bundles of narrower range of pottery types and before final interment. As places bones and others tightly pulled up a briefer period of use, perhaps re- of the dead, the Safford and Hope into “skeleton packs.” With them and stricted to the early Weeden Island mounds are the last best look at the sometimes in caches on their own period. The most important person lives of these prehistoric people, what were dozens of pottery vessels, of the buried in the Hope Mound seems brought them meaning, how they types now known as Crystal River to have been a middle-aged woman saw themselves in this world and the Incised, Swift Creek Complicated adorned with pearl and conch shell afterworld, and how they related to Stamped, Weeden Island Zoned Red, beads and a repousse-style copper one another. By late prehistory they Weeden Island Incised, Safety Har- pendant over her breast. The archae- began to fade into obscurity, at least bor Incised and others. This indi- ologists found the charred remains as we know them archaeologically. cated the range of geographical con- of pyre-like structures in Hope and There are some mounds along the nection that these people had and the Safford, possibly indicating a stage Anclote River where chiefs or priests

12 Celebrating Community: Tarpon Springs, Relections on 125 Years might have staged ritual perfor- River and the coastal lagoons. The Mary Safford to dispense remedies to mances; if so, their society gave some famous sponge industry got its start, the ailing residents of Tarpon Springs. people more power and authority attracting both Bahamian spongers One can see that the past is still very than others. But the function of these and an influx of Greek immigrants. much a part of the present, whether so-called temple mounds has yet to Meanwhile, as transportation by sea evidenced in the stone tools or shell be confirmed. When the first Spanish took on commercial importance, middens of now-nameless prehistor- conquistadores passed through this the need for safe navigation became ic peoples or in the glass bottles and area of Florida in the 16th century a priority. On September 15, 1887 broken dinner plates buried in the they steered to the east and moved the Anclote Key Lighthouse was lit Safford backyard. on, not finding it worth their time for the first time by keeper James to raid and plunder. The Spaniards Gardner. By land and sea Tarpon brought with them a new way of life, Springs was now connected to the and the world transformed yet again. modern age. When the Spaniards and colonial Europeans who followed faded into Archaeology of the recent historical history, Americans eager for oppor- past of Tarpon Springs can bring new tunity once again brought human insights into the lives of these early settlement to Tarpon Springs. Ham- residents in dramatic and tangible ilton Disston was one of the first of ways that the written record cannot. these men who saw a future of pros- It is known from the chinaware and perity in developing land for wealthy broken bottle glass found in the trash people from the North, eager for new dumps in the mangrove fringe of An- ventures or simply seeking a refuge clote Key that the lighthouse keep- from the frigid winters. ers, their families, and assistants did not lead primitive, isolated lives, de- The City of Tarpon Springs was in- prived of the consumer goods so de- corporated in 1887 and welcomed sired in modern society. One can see the arrival of the Orange Belt Rail- and touch the medicine bottles that road. Soon others sought their live- might have been used by physician Pottery sherds found at sites near the Anclote River. Photo courtesy lihoods in the waters of the Anclote of the Tarpon Springs Area Historical Society, by Phyllis Kolianos.

13 Chapter 2

What Happened To All Those Boats? A Sketch of Maritime Heritage Jeff Moates Celebrating Community: Tarpon Springs, Relections on 125 Years

n Tarpon Springs, the communi- links to exciting and enriching op- and the Bahamas capitalized on the Ity’s heritage—its artifacts, photo- portunities for the future. rich fishing grounds and sponge beds graphs, history, cultural connections, located offshore. Some 140 years ago and reenactments—is tied to the In the early decades of the 20th cen- the area developed, as many coastal sea. Residents and visitors who walk tury, Tarpon Springs quickly became settlements in Florida did, along an along the Sponge Docks today and a renowned commercial capital of the accessible waterway. The mouth of look out over the inner harbor can sponge fishing industry, rival to other the Anclote River served as the area’s see the activities and the historical maritime enclaves in the Mediter- original settlement where fishermen, interpretations around them and feel ranean world. Greek sponge diving spongers and traders from these and a connection to the Tarpon Springs families helped usher in this success. other Florida ports could stop to that once was. While some maritime Skilled in maritime trades and savvy in offload and load marketable goods pursuits have changed and even di- entrepreneurial spirit, these emigrat- before shipping out to travel up and minished, those who still make their ing families harnessed the commercial down the coast. But what happened living from the water do so in similar potential of the sea sponge and brought to all those boats? What is it about ways, on similar looking boats, and about the unique character and style of them that inspires our imaginations? in the same waters as their ancestors Tarpon Springs. This continues to be What activities other than sponge did some 50 or 100 years ago. From expressed in numerous ways including fishing occurred on these waterways? these fisherman and spongers we the style of watercraft brought over and can learn about the sea, the difficul- utilized in the sponge trade. This Greek Resources located in and along the ties they faced, and the exploits in tradition pours through the town and Anclote River and its surrounding which they took part. spills over into the surrounding region. springs, bayous and bays served the Along the south side of Tampa Bay area’s original settlers well. Many Descendants of fishing families tell people can trace their second, third, adapted their own fishing and farm- stories of an earlier time and their and fourth generation roots to the ing traditions to support life on the desire to put into practice the tradi- sponge industry and related endeavors edge in this distinctly Florida envi- tions and techniques passed down in Tarpon Springs. ronment. In addition to farming the through generations. This is heritage land, these early settlers harvested at work in Tarpon Springs. Heritage Before the influx of Greek spongers resources from area waters using flat- infuses the past, made opaque by in the early 1900s, area settlers and bottomed work boats as a base for time, into our lives today and reveals seasonal fishermen from Key West net fishing. In order to suit the needs

Left: Sponge fishermen preparing for a trip to sea, c. 1915. 15 Photo courtesy of the Tarpon Springs Area Historical Society. What Happened To All Those Boats? of Florida fishermen, craftsmen who the time, it is likely that early settlers ness associate Anson P.K. Safford. built and operated these vessel types in Anclote and Tarpon Springs built They had decided to make Tarpon drew upon design origins from the fa- and utilized these same vessel types. Springs the new site for the Florida mous “sharpie” style boat found along office of the Lake Butler Villa Com- the northeastern seaboard in the early In addition to the rich fisheries in the pany and the base of operations for 19th century. Due mainly to the econ- area, early settlers also learned of the all of Disston’s Florida lands. With omy of construction and adaptability abundant and valuable sponge beds this new influx of people and capi- of this boat type, its use spread south located just offshore. But the story of tal, Tarpon Springs began to develop along the mid-Atlantic and tidewater the sponge industry does not account and become home to a new winter states, ultimately arriving in Florida for all of the activities that the new resort. Railroads brought people to by the late 19th century by pioneers citizens enjoyed in area waters. Orig- the area, but the waterways around from these very same regions. inally founded as a resort town, Tar- Tarpon Springs still served as the pon Springs and the surrounding wa- main arteries. Florida boatbuilders outfitted these ters of the Anclote River and Spring vessels, sometimes referred to as Bayou acted as much as a playground Various light-drafted watercraft shaped “skipjacks,” as both working craft and as they did a place of work. Indeed, transportation for locals and visitors yachts. These sailboats had center- before Tarpon became a capital in alike, but many also provided a busi- boards that helped the relatively flat- the sponge industry its founders, like ness connection among the river and bottomed boat sail close to the wind. many in Florida, praised the benefits The hulls also drew a very shallow of the spring-fed waters as a natural draft, an advantage in the abruptly health rejuvenator with restorative changing bay bottoms and inlets of power in hopes that travelers and Florida’s coastal environment. With tourists would be drawn to the area. variations on the type of sailing rig In order to improve accessibility to used, these boats could be handled these outsiders, a rail connection was easily by a small crew allowing for a completed in 1887, the year townsfolk focus on their catch, mostly of mul- voted to incorporate Tarpon Springs. let and other near-shore and inshore This brought an increase in travelers species. Based on what is seen in and settlers to the city, due in part Steam launch Ellen billows smoke in the air with passengers other Florida coastal communities of at Pinders Landing on the Anclote River. Photo courtesy of the to Hamilton Disston and his busi- Tarpon Springs Area Historical Society.

16 Celebrating Community: Tarpon Springs, Relections on 125 Years bayous. Sometimes pleasure or rec- steamboat with side paddlewheels, reational watercraft served dual pur- enclosed decks, and a rounded stern. poses, as was the case with some barg- She employed an efficient steam en- es, small rowing skiffs and canoes. At gine complete with the “walking times, they acted as much as a plat- beam” apparatus seen above the su- form for delivering goods as they did perstructure. However, the elegant for delivering people on weekend ex- and regal Governor Safford drew too cursions or picnics upriver to Pinders much water to navigate the shallow Landing. Boaters usually led the pack reaches of Florida’s coastal rivers and with a steam or gas-powered launch. zones. At Anclote, another boat was Steamboat Mary Disston stands ready along an unknown Vessels like the Star and the Ellen sig- needed to finish the trip inshore. shoreline, possibly Anclote Key. c. 1886. Photo courtesy of the Tarpon Springs Area Historical Society. naled a salute to a new reliability and luxury on the water. At the covered pier at the mouth of in Cincinnati. The Mary Disston of- the Anclote, passengers would meet fered travelers the trip inland aboard Besides recreation, area leaders also the shallow-draft Mary Disston to a smaller, wood-burning steamboat. wanted to ease coastal travel and travel upriver to Tarpon Springs and Its propulsion was fixed at the stern, saw a benefit in establishing a link Spring Bayou. According to sources, not along the sides as the Governor via the Gulf of Mexico to other cit- local Captain John Topliff designed Safford’s was. Travelers could enjoy ies and towns. Business leaders in the vessel for a shipbuilder based the open-air lower deck of Mary Tarpon Springs worked quickly to Disston, which also also acted as a establish the steamboat line for the storage area for fuel and cargo, or the Governor Safford in order to move enclosed and possibly more luxuri- people and goods quickly along the ous deck on the vessel’s superstruc- coast. Built in Wilmington, Delaware ture behind the pilothouse. in 1885, Governor Safford plied the waters from Cedar Key to the mouth Sponge harvesting began in Tarpon of the Anclote and south into Tampa Springs by the mid-1870s when sea- Bay. On the surface, Safford appears sonal turtlers and fishermen discov- to have been built in the well-estab- Sidewheel steamboat Governor Safford in the Gulf of Mexico. State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory ered the offshore beds by accident. lished tradition of the eastern-style (floridamemory.com/items/show/ 148797). Locals soon employed the established

17 What Happened To All Those Boats?

on the larger craft. Today, several of the of the shallow gulf in search of good smaller dinghies that would have been sponge beds. These were usually only associated with the larger boats are 20 to 30 feet deep, so spongers car- displayed throughout the tourist walk- ried lightweight poles with grapples ways and shops of Tarpon Springs. or hooks on the end that could reach These small boats—work boats almost the sea floor. Each sponger peered always powered by oars—resemble the through the water using a glass- offshore fishing boats typical along the bottomed bucket to site the sponges U.S. eastern seaboard, in the Carib- and then snatch them with the hook. bean, and especially throughout Medi- The hooking boat operators collect- Sponge harvest operations occurring at the shoreline along Bailey‘s Bluff. terranean maritime countries. They ed their catch aboard the dinghies, Note the extensive network of kraals behind the rows of sponge dinghies. A kraal was a staked pen where harvested sponges were corralled for further exhibit a rounded bottom and broad and upon reaching capacity trans- washing by the tides. State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory (floridam- beam, which creates a larger inboard ferred their harvest to the larger ves- emory.com/items/show/8818). capacity for cargo and gives more sta- sels. Once aboard the motherships, method of harvest, which used mul- bility in rougher waters. sponges were cleaned and dried to tiple boats acting as a team. Crew- remove organic material for the pre- men aboard early sponge boats con- Typically crewmen worked their vention of rot. Spongers then trans- ducted most of the work from a fleet way in the dinghies along the shore ferred their catch to shoreline kraals of smaller boats, or dinghies, which were carried on board or trailed behind a larger vessel. Spongers and crewmen referred to this larger boat as the “mothership.”

Motherships served to coordinate the work of the smaller boats and to store the harvested load of sponges. These boats were usually small to medium- sized sloop or schooner-rigged sail- These are typical sponge dinghies at work. While one crewman looked through a glass-bottom bucket to site the boats with up to six or more crewmen sponge beds, the oarsman would locate the dinghy in the right spot. The operation had to work in water depths where the hook pole could reach the bottom. Photo courtesy of the Tarpon Springs Area Historical Society.

18 Celebrating Community: Tarpon Springs, Relections on 125 Years

for cleaning and processing before the credit for instituting and capitalizing ployed John Cocoris, a Greek sponge final phases of snipping and pruning on all phases of harvesting, process- buyer and technical expert work- or readying for market began. ing, marketing, buying, and selling ing in Tarpon Springs for another of sponges in Tarpon Springs. John sponge warehouse and processing Sponge fishing by hooking boat con- Cheyney established the Anclote company in Tarpon Springs. Later, tinued to profit from large harvests and Rock Island Sponge Company as the industry gained prominence, during the course of the sponge in- in 1891 and constructed the earli- Cheyney would represent the sponge dustry. As time wore on, fishermen est sponge warehouses at Bailey’s divers to ensure they could continue hooking sponges utilized any small Bluff across the Anclote River from to practice their tradition of harvest- sailing craft capable of navigating Tarpon Springs. Cheyney’s business ing sponges in rubberized suits and shallow waters. Some of the boats sense and networking skills served copper diving helmets. were intentionally modified or pur- the industry well. Early on he em- posefully built to do away with the With the financial support of need for the smaller fleet of din- Cheyney, Cocoris launched the first ghies common to earlier schemes mechanized sponge boat from Tar- of sponge harvesting. One vessel in pon Springs that employed sponge particular, the hooking boat Duch- divers. This method, established in ess, is an example of a vessel built the Mediterranean with the advent and modified specifically for sponge of the diving helmet and suit, in- hooking. It appears that builders creased the efficiency of harvesting cut out her bulwarks near the bow sponges along the Gulf Coast four- to provide freedom of movement fold. Cocoris soon brought his wife for the crewmen that were hooking and brothers over from their home sponges below. At the time she was of Leonidion, Kynourias, Greece, nominated to be included on the beginning the immigration of Greek National Register of Historic Places families to Tarpon Springs. Where (1990), Duchess was one of only a Duchess tied up at a dock in Tarpon Springs. Note Cheyney’s dedication to the success the bulwarks, or gunnel, cut out near the bow. The few sponge industry boats from Tar- owners intentionally modified Duchess to make it of the industry was singular, Cocoris, pon Springs that still existed. easy for sponge hookers to move around on the deck. among many others, led the mass of (flheritage.com/facts/reports/places/Sites/8PI01704_ Beginning in 1886, one man is given duchess.cfm). Greek sponge divers, making Tarpon

19 What Happened To All Those Boats?

Springs the town that it is today. These giving very little freeboard amid- sponge divers also brought with them ships. Most likely in a show of their an established tradition of boat types dedication to the traditional vessel, and boatbuilding that forever changed Greek fishermen brought the actual the local maritime landscape. boats with them as they emigrated west across the Atlantic. For those A traditional sponge diving boat, or sacoleve, exhibits the design In 1907 two traditional Mediterra- building new sponge boats in Tar- elements that typified many of the first sponge boats to arrive in nean-style boats sat on the deck of pon Springs there were no drawn Tarpon Springs. Note the double ends and very little freeboard. This type of boat was well-suited for the use of oars. The sailing a large oceangoing steamship along- plans, only memories and models rig used on the original sponge boats was a sprit mainsail and side a few soon-to-be Florida sponge that served as the guides for ship a forestaysail set to the stem. State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory (floridamemory.com/items/show/162573). divers. They sought out the waters of carpenters and craftsmen. As more Florida’s west coast as their destina- and more divers arrived in Tarpon should look like. They did not have tion. The two boats were of the Greek Springs, these boat types, with their the luxury of pre-manufactured tim- type traditionally known as the saco- recognizable stem piece and forward bers that were meant to be placed in leve, double-ended sailboats charac- angled mast at the bow, quickly be- a particular spot in the hull. As time terized by dramatic and angled rises came commonplace near the newly wore on, builders in Tarpon Springs, at the ends, as well as a broad beam established Sponge Exchange. such as Kaminis, Arfaras, and Mac- renaris, expanded their repertoire to Boatbuilding in Tarpon Springs oc- build just about any form and vessel curred as quickly as craftsmen ar- type from sponge boats and shrimp rived. They began producing boats boats to pleasure craft and launch- needed for the demands of the fast- es. With a contract from the United growing industry. Carpenters con- States military, the M.S.T. Company, structed these vessels as much from also located in Tarpon Springs, con- traditional knowledge as they did structed heavy duty barges for war from lines of sight. It is not surpris- efforts beginning in 1918. Two small traditional Greek-style boats trail a large schooner, or “mothership.” This may have been a typ- ing though, as this was typical of the ical offshore operation before efficiencies in sponge practice among boatbuilders of the By the 1920s, efficiency in sponge div- diving made it easier for a single sponge boat crew day. Craftsmen cut and trimmed to operate alone. State Archives of Florida, Florida ing and mechanization increased. Memory (floridamemory.com/items/show/149418). timbers to fit an idea of what the ship Boatbuilders also began to adapt

20 Celebrating Community: Tarpon Springs, Relections on 125 Years

to some of these changes in tech- good example that can be seen today Many of the types of boats discussed nology. As engines overtook wind along the Sponge Docks. She is still in this essay have been lost to rot and power for these vessels, boatbuilders employed in the sponge harvest and disrepair, lost among a waning industry made modifications to the traditional fishing industry and characterizes and to inevitable salvage and abandon- Greek-style boats. By then, builders these changes on the original Greek ment. After a worthy life at sea any boat had modernized the old-style lateen sponge boat hull. Even though the type still consists of frames and spars rig to a gaff-headed yawl, and added nature of the sponge boat changed, or sails and rudders. Important as they a jigger mast at the stern. Soon these features of the sacoleve, like the are to the physical existence of these sails became supplemental power for dramatic rise at the bow and broad vessels, these parts are often the most the modern method of propulsion. beam, remained as a signature of the ephemeral. Many of the traditions of a No longer double-enders, craftsmen “new” traditional design. community’s maritime heritage survive built the newer vessels with squared- in a more concrete way in the stories, off transoms to accept the engines, The sea and surrounding waters pro- descriptions of the past, cultural tradi- shafts, and propellers that were now vided more than a means to an end for tions, and artifacts that remain from commonplace. St. Nicholas III is a the early settlers, sponge fishermen, previous times. These are the things boatbuilders, and others who called the that enrich a community today. area home. Even though the sponge industry had declined in large part by the Sources 1950s, the waterways of Tarpon Springs Chapelle, Howard I., American Small Sailing Craft; Their Design, Development, and acted, and continue to act, as the hub of Construction. Norton & Co., New York, 1951. social gatherings for area residents. Just Fleetwood, William C., Tidecraft, the Boats as throngs of winter guests enjoyed the of South Carolina, Georgia, and Northeast- area’s riches, thousands today celebrate ern Florida, 1550-1950. WBG Marine Press, the cultural traditions that are recog- Tybee, GA, 1995. nized as embodying Tarpon Springs. In National Register of Historic Places, Nomina- terms of the rich maritime traditions of tions for Sponge Hooking Boat Duchess, and The modern Tarpon Springs sponge boat has retained many of Sponge Boat St. Nicholas III, Tarpon Springs, the traditional characteristics of the original sacoleve type. The the area, it is clear that all these boats ef- Pinellas County, Florida, 1990. changes that can be noted in this photograph include the main- fectively changed the social fabric of a mast, which now supports a gaff type mainsail, and the addition fledgling settlement in the Florida wil- Stoughton, Gertrude K. Tarpon Springs, of a jigger mast located at the stern. Boatbuilders also modified Florida; the Early Years. Tarpon Springs Area the stern with a squared transom to incorporate engine power. derness and its navigable waters. Historical Society, Tarpon Springs, FL, 1975. State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory (floridamemory.com/ items/show/78666). 21 Chapter 3 Development and Architecture Ellen J. Uguccioni Celebrating Community: Tarpon Springs, Relections on 125 Years

he City of Tarpon Springs was timated. When the Civil War ended Lumber was hand hewn on site and Tonce known as a playground of in 1865, the Gulf Coast of Florida timbers were joined by mortise and the rich, who brought with them a was one of the areas that was left rela- tenon construction, as nails were at dazzling array of “high style” archi- tively untouched by civilization. The a premium. tectural designs. It was also a work- first documented settlers in Tarpon ing village where sponges were har- Springs were the brothers Frederick In 1876 A.W. Ormond and his daugh- vested by Greeks, mainly from the and Ben Meyer and their wives, both ter Mary moved from South Carolina Dodecanese Islands. Initially the named Sarah, who arrived in 1867. to become the first occupants of what fishing community’s building styles The Meyer families resided in log would become the city limits of Tar- were derived from Greek village cabins in the settlement that became pon Springs. Their cabin was built traditions. This modest type of de- known as Anclote.1 near what is now Spring Bayou, at the sign is called “vernacular,” and in corner of Lake and Pinellas Avenues. this case the houses were vernacu- Another early name associated with Love flourished among the scrub pal- lar with a flair reminiscent of the the area was Samuel Hope, a Confed- metto and mosquitoes when a young Greek islands. The need for func- erate captain in the Civil War. Hope adventurer named Joshua Boyer ar- tional buildings associated with the purchased land on the north side of rived from sponging in Nassau and sponge industry and the increas- the Anclote River. The area began to Key West and made his way up the ing Greek population changed the see more settlement when William Anclote River. He built a cabin close ethnic makeup of the city and its Lawrence Thompson brought his to the Ormond’s homestead, where look, traditions, and rituals; a place family from Bronson, Florida in 1864. he became a welcome guest. Within was created where both immigrant Thompson homesteaded about three a few months, on April 14, 1877, and native-born people lived and acres of land several miles south of Joshua Boyer and Mary Ormond worked together. what would become Tarpon Springs. were married. Mary, impressed with He planted the first orange trees in “the giant tarpon that swarmed in Out of the Wilderness the area. The home he and his family the bayou, leaping in the sunlight and shared was primitive at best. Materi- tossing off showers of spray,” coined The importance of courage, tenacity als for home building were abundant; the name for their tiny settlement— and adventurous spirit of the men the forest provided the raw materials. Tarpon Springs.2 and women who conquered the fron- tiers of America cannot be underes- 1 Gertrude J. Stoughton, Tarpon Springs, The Early Years (Tarpon Springs, Florida) 1975, 6. 2 Stoughton, 7.

Left: The Edward Newton Knapp House or “Crescent 23 Place,” built in 1886, curves around Spring Bayou. Development and Architecture

number of stories and all other ele- Roebuck, that illustrated the most ments—lead to classification of style.3 popular fashions of the day. In the mid-19th century, American architects looked to the precedents of The architecture of Tarpon Springs is the historical world—the Classical, a fascinating combination of defined Renaissance, and Gothic in particu- style and folk architecture. There are The Boyer lar. All could be classified under the unique building types that were creat- Honeymoon generic term “Victorian,” named for ed specifically for functional purpos- Cottage, which is preserved at Queen Victoria who sat on the Brit- es, such as “kraals,” used to temporar- Pinellas County’s ish throne for 63 years (1837-1901).4 ily house sponges taken directly from Heritage Village. She exerted an enormous influence the sponge boats, and warehouses that on style and fashion during her life- were used to to further process the Their home is a pristine example of time. Victorian styles in America sponges before auction. the frame folk vernacular design that reflected eclecticism during that pe- was the standard for the time. Con- riod and into the first decades of the The style of many of the early homes sisting of one room, the sides of the 20th century when architects were and commercial buildings in Tarpon house were clad in vertical planks practicing a revival of popular Euro- Springs is vernacular, which encom- called “board and batten.” The steeply pean styles.5 Another major force in passes the different regional build- pitched front gabled roof was built to the development of American house ing traditions that were passed down extend out over the porch. Slender styles at that time was the availabil- through the generations. The “salt wooden vertical piers supported the ity of periodicals, newspapers and box” types found in New England, porch roof. One window, a luxury for catalogs of do-it-yourself kits offered the “I” houses of Charleston and the the time, allows light to penetrate the by major companies, such as Sears- “shotgun” houses of the southern interior. The house is raised off the United States are all good examples ground to keep out water and insects. 3 National Register of Historic Places, Bulletin 15, defines style as “…the combination of elements of regional types that can be called that create the form, plan, structure, and style of a vernacular. In Florida, the term “folk Simply defined, architecture is the prop e r t y.” Victorian” best describes the home- art and science of designing and con- 4 Spiro Kostof, A History of Architecture (Oxford University Press, New York), 1985, 635. grown character of many of the early structing buildings for human habi- 6 5 In 1857, Richard Morris Hunt was the first houses and commercial buildings. tation. Design—the assemblage of American to study at the prestigious Ecole des the roof, windows, porches, dormers, Beaux Arts. (Kostof, 649). 6 Virginia and Lee McAlester, A Field Guide to

24 Celebrating Community: Tarpon Springs, Relections on 125 Years

The form that influences the traits of boat with a shallow draft and flat hull who they hoped would then invest in vernacular style is largely the result that could navigate the river as it ap- other Florida projects. They selected of the availability of raw materials proached Tarpon Springs, which was the land surrounding Spring Bayou and the climate. While “Victorian” about a mile inland from the river’s on which to build these houses, not is usually associated with high style, mouth. Among the associates who only because it was a beautiful area, in reality, many modest homes used joined Disston on that trip was Ma- but also because of its proximity to various elements of the larger, more jor Mathew Marks, a surveyor who, the spring that was thought to have articulated styles to embellish them. in 1882, laid out the original town medicinal qualities. The area became plat for Tarpon Springs.7 Also with known as the Golden Crescent be- The growth of Tarpon Springs before him was his long-time acquaintance cause of the bayou’s shape and the the turn of the 20th century was en- Anson P. K. Safford, whom Disston wealth of those who would build sured when Philadelphia saw manu- chose to lead his operations in Tar- winter homes there. facturer Hamilton Disston took the pon Springs. Originally from Ver- opportunity to buy four million acres mont, Safford had served two terms The Golden Crescent of Florida land for 25 cents an acre. as governor of the territory of Ari- Private homes for wealthy patrons About 20,000 acres of his purchase zona under the presidential admin- were built around Spring Bayou, tak- were located in what became Pinel- istration of Ulysses S. Grant (1869– ing full advantage of the view. Boat- las, Pasco and Hillsborough counties. 1877), and had made his fortune in houses were built on the shore so that Disston chose Tarpon Springs as his silver mining. After he moved to recreational craft could be accessed headquarters because it was posi- Philadelphia he became acquainted quickly. Besides the boathouses that tioned along a major sailing route ap- with Hamilton Disston. lined the shore, there were concrete proximately halfway between Cedar walkways, site walls, docks, lighting Key and Tampa. In 1882, Disston and Disston deeded some 9,500 acres to and a beautifully designed staircase a number of his business associates the Lake Butler Villa Company and that led down to the docks. Today 8 arrived at the small fishing village Safford was elected as its president. the land around the bayou is called at the mouth of the Anclote River. Safford and Disston wanted to create Craig Park (formerly known as Co- As the Anclote River narrowed, it a winter resort for wealthy residents, burn Park), where many enjoy fish- became necessary to board a steam- 7 “The History of Tarpon Springs,” Tarpon ing, walking along the seawall and Springs Area Historical Society website the beauty of Spring Bayou. American Houses (Alfred A. Knopf, New York), (tarponspringsareahistoricalsociety.org). 1996, 454. 8 Stoughton, 8.

25 Development and Architecture

1891, his widow Soledad sold the valuable waterfront property on which the house stood to George Clemson. The Safford House was moved to its present location at 23 Parkin Court. Soledad rented out rooms to boarders and called the house “Villa Ansonia.” She made Above: Spring Bayou postcard. In the collection of the Tarpon Springs Cultural Center. c. 1920. some structural changes, adding a Left: The Golden Crescent around Spring wide wrap-around porch on the top Bayou. Photo by Gen Crosby (2013). floor. After her death in 1931, her third husband sold it in 1946. A suc- dow hoods, bargeboard brackets and cession of owners held the property,

patterned balustrades. Proportions enclosing much of the porch area to The homes along the Golden Cres- are narrow, and tri-sided windows, enlarge the interior space, and di- cent represent many Victorian styles. with striking stained glass in the vided it into several apartments. The Governor Safford built a house there transoms, extend outward from the City acquired the Safford House in for his large family, which included wall in the bays below the roof to cre- 1994, restored and adapted it for re- his sister Dr. Mary Jane Safford, the ate a visual focus. Slender rectangular use as a museum with the assistance first woman to practice medicine in 9 posts separate this substantial frame of State and Federal funds. Florida. The 1883 Safford House il- residence into symmetrical bays. The lustrates a vernacular tradition with 9 Historic Tarpon Springs Walking Tour, City of neoclassical influences can be seen in neoclassical forms. It began as a one- the front facing gables (reminiscent story wood frame cottage, distin- of a pediment in a Greek temple) and guished by two equally spaced gables. the narrow proportions of the home To accommodate his extended family itself. The very strict symmetry of the Safford added a second story using home is an important characteristic the original roof trusses and gables. of the neoclassical revival. The second story featured Victorian After Anson Safford and his sister gingerbread details, a cupola, win- Mary Jane both died in December The 1883 Safford House. Photo by Brian Swartzwelder (2008). 26 Celebrating Community: Tarpon Springs, Relections on 125 Years

spaced at regular intervals support the diamond shape in the center. The tri- porch’s shed roof. The most interest- sided porch, which frames the main ing detail of the house is its wooden entrance, is a tour de force of Victo- balustrade composed of square shapes rian spindle work as the slender col- reminiscent of the craftsman style. umns meet the eaves. The extremely Because of its eclecticism, the style is narrow windows in the side bays and best described as wood vernacular. the porch add to the perception of height. The Crescent Place’s curved Perhaps the most elegant and eye- shape and motif follow the lines of catching house on Spring Bayou is the property, which in turn mirrors Marshall H. Alworth House, built in 1895. Photo by Ellen J. Uguccioni (2013). “The Crescent Place,” built and de- the shape of Spring Bayou and the signed by Edward Newton Knapp, Golden Crescent. the man who convened the meeting Marshall Alworth was one of the to incorporate Tarpon Springs on richest men in Tarpon Springs, hav- February 12, 1887 (see page 22). Also ing made his fortune in iron ore. Al- called the Knapp House, it was built worth was a faithful winter visitor in 1886 in the Queen Anne style. Al- who came from Duluth, Minnesota. most every surface of the house is or- Built around 1895, his home has a namented, and there are few straight careful symmetry created by the ex- lines. The narrow proportions of the truded center pyramidal roofed sec- house give it the appearance of being George Clemson Auxiliary, c. 1902. Photo by Ellen ond story bay, flanked on either side squeezed onto the lot. The main fa- J. Uguccioni (2013). by a gable roof. The paired sash win- çade is arranged in three bays, with dows of the extended center bay also two steeply pitched gables flanking help to further emphasize the bal- the tower which extends beyond Another home on Spring Bayou that ance of the home. The porch, which the roof line. The tower is unique illustrates the melding of a neoclassi- extends across the entire width of the in its thin proportions at the base cal vocabulary with vernacular tradi- home, alludes to the high ceilings in that rise to a bulbous section. The tions is the Clemson Auxiliary build- the front rooms. Slender columns, tower’s multi-sided roof is adorned ing. The home has a formal symmetry with multi-colored tiles that create a established by the center bay that ex- Tarpon Springs, Florida, 30.

27 Development and Architecture tends out and forms a porch flanked for the right-of-way. A New Yorker by two bays that are approximately could now reach Tarpon Springs the same distance from the porch. by rail in only 36 hours. Passengers The original train depot was built Besides its exact symmetry, the clas- changed trains in Sanford, Florida to of wood and burned, along with an sical element that immediately de- the Orange Belt Line and traveled the entire city block, in a devastating mands attention is the pediment of final leg into Tarpon Springs. With fire in 1908. The Atlantic Coast Line the central second-story bay. Here, a the railroad came important new pos- Railroad Depot at 160 East Tarpon Palladian window fills the space and sibilities that included the city’s pop- Avenue was completed in 1909. The is highlighted by the deep eaves of ulation growth and the availability of new station, a masonry vernacular the triangular cornice.10 The two-bay commodities and building materials that building, is one story composed of section has the feel of a Grecian porti- were immediately put to use. Eventu- a rectangular floor plan. The gabled co, but here the columns are replaced ally owner Peter Demens’ finances col- roof on the long side terminates in with simple wooden posts that sup- lapsed and a hipped roof section at the end. The port a rudimentary entablature. The the Orange roof eaves extend out and monumen- wooden cladding runs horizontally Belt Line tal wooden brackets add a distinctive and is almost overwhelmed by the b e c a m e touch. The sash windows of the passen- highly complex asphalt tile hipped part of the ger waiting section are evenly spaced, roof. The ornate brick chimney is a Plant line and with the addition of triangular dor- staple in Tarpon Springs houses. and later, mers bring light into the building. After the Atlantic the last train departed Tarpon Springs In 1887 Tarpon Springs was incor- Coast Line. porated, the lighthouse was built, the first black church opened, and the first railroad arrived. The city donat- Photo by Brian Swartzwelder (2008). ed land on which to build a depot and Hamilton Disston provided the land

10 The Palladian window is named for Renais- sance architect Andrea Palladio, which is often featured in Adam or Federal styles in the United States. It consists of a larger arched window flanked by smaller windows. Train Depot, c. 1909. Photo courtesy of the Tarpon Springs Area Historical Society.

28 Celebrating Community: Tarpon Springs, Relections on 125 Years

what had been the Hotel Meres on the as possible. Sponge kraals (or crawls) second. The building is striking, par- were built on shore in makeshift enclo- ticularly because of the second story, sures of wire, where the sponges would which features evenly spaced sash be stored to further dry and be bleached windows that are sheltered by a shed by the sun, until they were moved into a roof supported by decorative brackets. sponge packing house. The N.G. Arfaras Above that is a stepped parapet wall that terminates in the center with a stepped Meres Building. State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory (floridamemory.com/items/show/118796), semicircular freestanding brick panel Photo by Robert L. Stone (2003). that still carries a plaque “MERES 1914.” in the mid-1980s, the building was restored with Federal grant funds and be- The Sponge Capital came home to the Tarpon Springs Area of the World Historical Society. 11 Sponge harvesting and processing The downtown district on Tarpon have been central to the city’s econ- Avenue between Pinellas and Ring omy, giving rise to building types Sponge cleaning, c. 1920. Photo courtesy of the Tarpon Springs Area Avenues displays a charming col- unique to the industry. Although the Historical Society. lection of brick and concrete block Sponge Exchange on Dodecanese and stucco buildings from the late Avenue was modernized in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Built 20th century and looks very differ- in 1914 by well-known Florida ar- ent today, the photograph illustrates chitect Leo Elliot, the Meres Build- its appearance in the early 1900s. The ing is a two-part masonry vernacular sponge warehouse in the center was commercial building. Owned by one adjacent to the sponge house, which of the most active sponge traders, Er- would have been filled with individ- nest Meres, it is two stories in height, ual bins for each owner’s catch. The with storefronts on the first floor and processing of sponges began while the sponges were still on the boat, 11 Historic Tarpon Springs Walking Tour (City of Sponge exchange, c. 1920. Photo courtesy of the Tarpon Springs Area Tarpon Springs, Florida, 2007), 9. with the crew cleaning them as much Historical Society.

29 Development and Architecture

horizontal wood siding and a small buy natural Tarpon Springs sponges. one-story gable roof extension off Sponges have unique shapes that are the main building. While there are perceived by many as sculpture and few windows, there is a garage-door- not simply something to be used for sized opening in the side for moving practical purposes. They are valued sponges. The E.R. Meres building instead for their innate beauty. was built in 1905 and is the oldest remaining example of a sponge packing The former City Hall at 101 South Arfaras sponge warehouse, 2003. State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory (floridamemory.com/ plant building; the Arfaras packing Pinellas Avenue was built in 1915. items/show/119108). Photo by Tina Bucuvalas. plant was built in the 1920s.12 Both The building type is Greek Revival, a Sponge Packing House shown above are listed on the National Register of style that became popular in America was a functional, vernacular building Historic Places. beginning in the early 19th century. designed for the particular work that Its popularity was due to its strong took place inside it. Dodecanese Boulevard became, and association with classical traditions still is, the epicenter of the sponge and democracy. Ancient Greece gave Both the N.G. Arfaras and the E.R. industry. One- and two-story shops, us democracy, and it was only fitting Meres sponge packing plants are usually owned by Greeks and mainly that buildings such as courthouses, one-story wood frame buildings. constructed of brick, line Dodeca- town halls and libraries would be Both feature a one-story shed-roofed nese Boulevard. Many of the stores built in the neoclassical style. In ad- extension that, in the Meres plant, originally sold supplies for the spong- dition to the imposing Corinthian ran along the entire length of the ers. These commercial structures fall building. These are simple, utilitarian into the category of folk vernacular. buildings with a single door in the Decoration was created by patterns gable end. The interiors have large in the brick facades, often on the open areas for pounding the sponges summit or parapet of the building. to remove any remaining detritus; Today Dodecanese Boulevard retains the walls are lined with storage bins most of the early 20th century build- for sponges awaiting packing and ings, most specializing in souvenirs shipping to both wholesalers and for the tourist trade. Visitors can still The original City Hall, restored and adapted for use as the Tarpon retailers. The Arfaras building has 12 Walking Tour, 33. Springs Cultural Center (2008). Photo by Brian Swartzwelder.

30 Celebrating Community: Tarpon Springs, Relections on 125 Years

Ernest Ivey Cook, the building origi- erners to buy into the year-round nally housed the mayor’s office, city sunshine, thousands made the trek to clerk and other municipal offices, Florida to buy a winter home. In Tar- as well as a meeting chamber. The pon Springs many new subdivisions garage bays for the fire department were platted in sparsely developed were located on the side. Beginning areas like the Fruit Salad district. in 1987 the building was restored with state grants and by the City of One of the most popular house forms

Thompson-Jukes House on Tarpon Avenue c. 1887 Tarpon Springs. Most City offices all over the country in the 1910s and is an example of dog trot style. State Archives of were relocated to the former Tarpon 1920s was the bungalow. Usually Florida, Florida Memory (floridamemory.com/ Springs High School at 324 East Pine one or one-and-a-half stories, bun- items/show/151775). Street. Today the building serves as galows are said to have originated columns, the focal point of this two- the Tarpon Springs Cultural Center, in the Bengal region of India, where story brick building is its double story another example of the City’s grow- a common native dwelling called a portico with a fully detailed cornice ing sophistication and adaptation of “bangla” was adapted by the British, that terminates in a pediment. The a fine building. who used them as houses for colonial evenly spaced 8/8 light double-hung administrators. The residence on Ba- windows are further embellished The Fruit Salad District by stone sills with a keystone in the In the northwest quadrant of the his- center at the summit of the arch. The toric downtown area, the names of the central entrance is a miniature of the streets include Lime, Orange, Pine- portico with double-leaved doors apple, Banana and Lemon. The street surmounted by a pediment. The names led to the nickname “Fruit main building features a heavy cor- Salad” district. During the 1920s the nice that follows the perimeter of the Florida boom affected every commu- roof line. An elegant bell tower from nity. The Great War was over, there a Colonial Revival tradition is a fit- was no income tax and, for the first ting termination to the building. time in a long time, people had dis- posable income. With millions spent Designed by prominent architect on advertisements to entice north- Bungalow on Banana Street. Photo by Gen Crosby (2013).

31 Development and Architecture nana Street pictured on the previous perfect middle-class house. The Fruit owner’s name and date. Below the page is a good example of the bunga- Salad community was developed from plaque the brick is laid in vertical low type. The front gabled roof of the the earliest days into the 1970s. There courses. This band cleverly acts as a second story extends forward so that is an amazing variety of styles such as separation between the building and it actually covers the first story porch, Queen Anne, Colonial Revival, Crafts- the parapet. There are two other rect- The eaves of the second story gable man, wood and stone vernacular, and angular concrete decorative plaques are a prominent feature, and large- from the 1950s onward, ranch and split on the wings of the building. Anoth- scale brackets add another decorative level. A walk through the area is a walk er brick course using the end of the feature. The popularity of the bunga- through time. brick (rather than its long side – or low was both its modest cost and the “stretcher”) begins the beautifully ability to change different features so Greek Town shaped parapet with curvilinear lines that it was personalized. For exam- The ever-growing need for housing leading to the termination bearing ple, the square piers that rest on ma- and the natural tendency for people the plaque. The number and types of sonry bases could easily be changed to choose to live among others who brick coursing is evidence of a vir- to a cylindrical column resting on share their language, traditions and tuoso bricklayer. a wood-faced base; or tapered piers faith, led to the creation of an area resting on a wooden porch could now known as the “Greek Town.” Not Wood frame vernacular homes of have different styles of balustrades surprisingly, many Greek families the bungalow type are evidenced by 13 across the entire front. The same chose to make their homes close to— the second story’s projection over is true for the second story, where but behind—the Sponge Docks and wooden half-timbering in the gable activity on Dodecanese Boulevard. end could give it a more Gothic look. Sometimes the front porch itself was The M. Gonatos building expresses covered with a gable roof, or the two- the art of bricklaying. Built in the story porch behind it was offset. It is period just after the boom, this 1927 next to impossible to describe all the two-story building has a corner en- variations found in Tarpon Springs. trance and the wings of the building The bungalow’s relatively small scale angle from either side. The corner and economy of materials made it a bay is the focal point and, at its high- M. Gonatos Building. State Archives of Florida, Flori- 13 McAlester, 454-455. est point, there is a plaque with the da Memory (floridamemory.com/items/show/118815).

32 Celebrating Community: Tarpon Springs, Relections on 125 Years the front porch. The gable end can chitecture. Built in 1925 for $100,000, include a sash window. The number the Shaw Arcade covered an entire of lights (individual panes of glass), block. It had stores on its first floor configured vertically with a substan- and a hotel on its second. Some of the tial surround suggests that a house more obvious Spanish details include was built very early, either at the the differing heights and roof slopes end of the 19th century or at the be- covered in barrel tile; the succession ginning of the 20th. This house on of towers at the corners and at the Grand Avenue (right) is clad in hor- central entrance; the use of the round izontal wood siding, and the eaves Bungalow in Greek Town. Photo by Gen Crosby (2013). arch; and the arcade itself, a covered of the roof project outwards. Wood- walkway which connects different en piers with a square profile are sociation with the expansion of Tar- parts of the building. The hotel sur- aligned so that the front entrance to pon Springs during the 1920s. vived during the hard times of the De- the house is clear. The freestanding pression, and changed owners several piers also bear a rudimentary capi- One of the marketing tools used times. A fire in 1976 almost spelled tal, which distinguishes the house to lure potential residents here was the end for the building, and by that from others of its type. Florida’s centuries-old connection to time, the hotel was losing business to Spain. “Mediterranean Revival” was newer and more modern hotels built After World War I, America entered coined to describe the flavor of the ar- along nearby U.S. Highway 19. Recog- into a period of abundance and optimism. Hundreds of residential subdivisions were created in south Flor- ida when many northerners made their winter homes here. During that growth, one of Tarpon Springs’ unique buildings was constructed at 210 South Pinellas Avenue. The Shaw Arcade is listed in the National Reg- ister of Historic Places because of its distinguished architecture and its as- Hand-colored Shaw Arcade postcard, c. 1927. From the collection of the Tarpon Springs Cultural Center.

33 Development and Architecture

straight lines in favor of curves, The 1940s saw the construction of which create a sleek, modern look a monumental Greek Orthodox to a building. Instead of the typi- church. Since 1909, Greek Ortho- cal hipped or gabled roof, Moderne dox parishioners had worshiped in homes use flat roofs to emphasize the a small church. As their numbers circular sections. Built early in the increased, it was clear that a new period (1926) the home pictured at and bigger church was needed. Af- left features a central bay that is drum ter many fundraisers organized by shaped and pierced with narrow rect- church members, and sponge boat angular windows to allow light to captains who gave a portion of the enliven the interior. The drum con- value of their catch for the building, nects to a rectangular section, but the Greek community raised approx- still maintains the flat roof and seg- imately $200,000 needed to build St. Art moderne residence on Inness Drive. Former home of 1920s bandleader and composer Bohumir mented arched windows. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church at Kryl. Photo by Gen Crosby (2013). Pinellas Avenue and Orange Streets. Changes During nizing the value of this monumental World War II St. Nicholas is built in a traditional landmark, in 1986 the Shaw Arcade The world changed dramatically dur- Latin cross plan with a central nave. was restored and is now home to gal- ing World War II. In Florida, citizen- Transepts bisect the church and ter- leries, restaurants, shops and offices. 14 manned aircraft warning systems were minate in a semicircular apse at the set up along both coasts. Watchers sat altar. One of the most spectacular During the Great Depression Tarpon at the city’s highest point looking sky- aspects is its dome, built over the in- Springs was fortunate to have its sponge ward for enemy invaders. In Tarpon tersection of the transepts, which be- commerce continue uninterrupted. Springs a 32-foot tower at the city pier cause of its size and location, takes a Building continued, and as fashion was used for a lookout post. Long-time central role in the church. The icon changed the design for houses did as well. merchant Abraham Tarapani orga- painted in the top of the dome is of Art Deco and Art Moderne became the nized the ground observer corps.15 Christ Pantocrator, a familiar and cause célèbre of the architectural world. important Byzantine subject that Art Moderne is a style that avoids symbolically shows Christ as ruler of the world. St. Nicholas is replete with 14 Walking Tour, 4. 15 Stoughton, 106.

34 Celebrating Community: Tarpon Springs, Relections on 125 Years precious marble and two-dimensional est boon was tourism. In 1947 the Victorian architecture, Greek flair, icons which portray the teachings of sponge industry was greatly affected and many unique touches, such as the Bible. Many of the icons are mosa- by a red tide algal bloom. Many of rusticated block walls, make Tarpon ics made of glass tile backed with gold the structures along Dodecanese Springs a popular destination. The foil, called tessera; others are made of Boulevard that supported the sponge city is a place of beauty and quiet ivory and precious stones. The church industry were converted into shops, contemplation. Visitors enjoy walk- design is said to be patterned after the restaurants, and museums. Hun- ing under enormous 100-year-old Hagia Sophia, built as a cathedral by dreds of service men and women had oak trees that provide a cool cano- Emperor Justinian I in Constantino- returned to the community and new py throughout many of the streets. ple (now Istanbul, Turkey) in the 6th subdivisions were platted. The City The historic downtown area is now century. The church was consecrated offered lots at no cost to any veteran, an arts and antiques district. Today as a cathedral in 1946. providing they be built upon within a Tarpon Springs is a city of sophisti- short time period.16 cation, telling its story through its After the war, new industry found its people, buildings, and the pioneering way to Tarpon Springs, but the great- spirit that still inspires and enlight- 16 Stoughton, 111. ens those who live there.

Left: St. Nicholas Cathedral postcard, c. 1950. State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory (florida-memory.com/items/show/162541). Above: Interior, 2010.

35 Chapter 4 An Arts Legacy in Tarpon Springs George Inness & George Inness, Jr. Lynn Whitelaw

The Home of the Heron (1893), George Inness, American, 1825-1894, Oil on canvas, 76.2 x 115.2 cm (30 x 45 in.), Edward B. Butler Collection, 1911.31, The Art Institute of Chicago. Used by permission.

36 Celebrating Community: Tarpon Springs, Relections on 125 Years

paintings of George Inness, Jr. that as a health resort, a playground for hang in the Unitarian Universalist the wealthy, a working port estab- Let us believe in Art, not as something Church. Over the years this town on lished by Greek sponge divers and to gratify curiosity or suit commercial Florida’s Gulf Coast has proudly fos- their families, and a destination for ends, but something to be loved and tered this legacy through its support the newly named “Tin Can Tourists” cherished because it is the Handmaid of of the arts, a tradition that continues who flocked to the area in the winter the Spiritual Life of the age. today as Tarpon Springs celebrates its months. Each group contributed to —George Inness 125th anniversary. the city’s charm and importance. In a decade that began with unbridled This story could begin or end in the optimism, Tarpon Springs was rec- uite possibly there is not another 1920s, but legacies have a way of out- ognized as a center of cultural diver- Qtown in Florida as connected to living pitfalls and surviving cultural sity and promise. To that end, the city an arts legacy as Tarpon Springs. This changes as they pass from one gen- planned to build an ambitious civic recognition is based on the accom- eration to the next. The Inness story center, private funding was offered to plishments of two artists, a father and is that kind of legacy. establish an Inness Memorial Arts In- son, whose civic and artistic contri- stitute, and in 1926 the annual Water butions shaped the early growth and In the 1920s Florida was involved in Carnival included performances by development of the town. George a real estate boom extolled by pow- the Metropolitan Opera Company. Inness (1825–1894), recognized as erful developers promising utopian one of America’s greatest landscape dreams presented in the fantasies of artists, created some of the most im- Mediterranean Revival architecture. portant paintings of his late career in In Tarpon Springs this was evident Tarpon Springs in the early 1890s. with the construction of the Tay- The tradition continued with his son, lor and Shaw (Tarpon) Arcades as George Inness, Jr. (1854–1926), who modern mixed-use developments of lived for part of each year in Tarpon shops, offices, and one with a hotel, Springs from 1902 until his death in all designed in the Mission Revival 1926. If one spends any time in Tar- style. Touted as the “Venice of the pon Springs one will come across South” with miles of bayous and wa- Floating stage in Spring Bayou, c. 1924. Photo cour- Inness Manor, Inness Drive, and the terways, Tarpon Springs was known tesy of the Tarpon Springs Area Historical Society.

37 An Arts Legacy in Tarpon Springs

These were bold actions for a small paintings of the day. It was consid- glorious Saturday, community. The dream of nurturing ered a symbol of world peace fol- May 2, 1925, hun- the arts was based at the time on the lowing the devastation of the Great dreds of people stature of the city’s favorite son, art- War (1914–1918) and was sent on gathered on the ist George Inness, Jr. While he had an ambitious tour around the United hillside overlook- received national recognition for States. It was the focus of newspaper ing Kreamer Bay- the six paintings he had donated to articles, reproduced in magazines, ou in Inness Park the Unitarian Universalist Church and when shown in the nation’s capi- to unveil a plaque in Tarpon Springs, his 1924 paint- tal, President Calvin Coolidge lob- and acknowledge ing entitled The Only Hope was to bied to have it permanently displayed the 100th anni- George Inness, Jr., c. 1925. become one of the most celebrated in the Capitol. For George Inness, Jr., versary of the birth this was the zenith of his career. of George Inness. His son unveiled a large painting of Spring Bayou, dedi- Throughout 1925, stories of the suc- cated to the memory of his father, en- cess of George Inness, Jr. and an In- titled Sunset on the Bayou. Inness, Jr. ness-related real estate project domi- stated that some of his father’s most nated local newspapers. In a newly famous paintings “hang all over Eu- platted section of Tarpon Springs rope and the caption on each one is called Inness Park, promoters touted Tarpon Springs, and lovers of art all that beautiful Mediterranean Revival over know of Tarpon Springs.” homes were to be built on Inness and Park Drives. Central to the develop- While this day would remain a high ment was to be the Inness Memorial point for Inness, Jr. and for Tarpon Arts Institute, dedicated to Inness, Springs, it was short-lived. The real Jr.’s father. It would include an art estate bust of 1926 put an end to the gallery, art studios and auditorium dream of an art center, Inness, Jr.’s where, as the Tarpon Springs Leader painting The Only Hope was decried stated, “future art lovers of the world as too Christian to be universal and

The Only Hope, 1924. George Inness, Jr. On display will make a beaten path in their pil- fell out of favor (typical of the fad- at the Unitarian Universalist Church, Tarpon Springs. grimages to this new shrine.” On a dism of the 1920s), and in July of

38 Celebrating Community: Tarpon Springs, Relections on 125 Years

1926 George Inness, Jr. died at the States was great, particularly follow- asville, Georgia where many wealthy age of 72 at his estate in Cragsmoor, ing the Civil War when artists came in northerners maintained seasonal New Jersey. For Tarpon Springs, the search of a romanticized Eden where homes. It is possible Inness and some collapse of Florida’s real estate boom they could reconnect with nature fol- interested land speculators traveled was tragically reinforced by a fire in lowing the carnage that had torn the by horse and wagon from Thomas- 1927 that destroyed the Tarpon Inn, country apart. Several great artists ville to the Florida boom town of Ce- a 100-room hotel on Spring Bayou passed through during this time, in- dar Key. There they boarded a side- that had served as the center of the cluding Winslow Homer, John Sing- wheel steamer and traveled down the city’s social life. An era was over and er Sargent, Herman Herzog, Martin coast on the Gulf of Mexico to the the Great Depression that followed Johnson Heade and George Inness, mouth of the Anclote River, where brought to a halt the momentum of but few stayed for any length of time a flat-bed steamer took them up the Tarpon Springs’ growth until after and no artist colonies or “schools” of river to the new community develop- World War II. Following his death, art were established. ing around the protected waters of the artistic accomplishments of Spring Bayou. What Inness experi- George Inness, Jr. were quickly for- For some artists, the appeal was Flor- enced on that trip would encourage gotten in the annals of American art ida’s abundance of wildlife. For oth- him to return for longer stays in the history, and the position of George ers, particularly old or infirm artists, early 1890s. Inness, Sr. as America’s greatest land- the health benefits of Florida’s mod- scape artist was pushed aside along erate winters, natural springs, and Toward the end of the 19th century with other 19th century artists in legends of a Fountain of Youth lured several important events changed the support of the avant-garde move- them to make the journey. Although perception of Florida and increased ments of European and American there is sketchy documentation of his the number of visitors and artists modernism. travels, it is believed that George In- coming into the state. The building ness first came to the widely promot- of railroads on both the east and west To evaluate the position of the Inness ed “famous Tarpon Springs” some- coasts of the peninsula made access painters requires an understanding time in the late 1880s or in 1890. The to Florida much easier. Luxury ho- of the unique history of the visual area was billed as one of the healthi- tels built in St. Augustine, Tampa and arts in Florida. The lure of Florida est places in the United States and a on Clearwater bluff brought wealthy as a subtropical paradise within the promising area for investors. At the northerners to these emerging cit- boundaries of the continental United time, Inness was wintering in Thom- ies, where their investments would

39 An Arts Legacy in Tarpon Springs

ultimately change the development would be the equivalent of jet travel Inness’s process-oriented art also of the state. The Spanish-American today. In 1890 Inness was 65 years leads to the abstract expressionism War in 1898 brought military lead- old and in declining health, exac- of Jackson Pollock and the color field ers, troops and dozens of illustra- erbated by the breaking of his right paintings of Mark Rothko. tors to the Tampa Bay area. When hand, with which he used to paint. they returned home they spoke of He had been a life-long epileptic, an Inness was an extremely complex a land of opportunity where natu- illness that often resulted in being personality who was influenced by ral resources and modern comforts, institutionalized; however, Inness’s many of the cultural, philosophical electricity and telephones were mak- intellect and artistic talent saved him and religious currents of his day, in- ing Florida a desirable and acces- from such a fate and he became re- cluding the French Barbizon School, sible paradise. For Tarpon Springs, nowned as a transcendental mystic. the Hudson River School, transcen- positioning as a healthy winter des- By the 1890s Inness was at the height dentalism, and the stylistic direc- tination of sunshine, salt air, balmy of his fame and recognized as one of tions of luminism and tonalism. His breezes, the therapeutic smell of pine America’s most famous living art- association with the religious tenets forests and orange trees, and medici- ists. Although he probably spent no of Swedenborgianism also served nal sulfur waters that bubbled in the more than a total of four months in as a primary inspiration in his late bayou came in 1887 when the city Tarpon Springs between 1890 and work. The Swedenborgian religion incorporated, the railroad arrived, a 1894, the 15 landscape paintings that was based on the writings of Eman- lighthouse was built on Anclote Key carry the name of the city in their uel Svedberg, born in Stockholm, and wealthy investors built impres- titles, and seven that reference Flor- Sweden, in 1688. He studied natural sive homes around Spring Bayou. ida, are among the most sublime and sciences and mineralogy, traveled ex- spiritual of his career. It may even be tensively and was awarded the status When George In- argued that abstract art began in Tar- of royalty for his scientific theories ness returned to pon Springs with this body of work. (whereby changing his name to Swe- Tarpon Springs These often dark and mysterious late denborg). A spiritual epiphany came he came by rail- paintings influenced the mystical after studying underground mines in road. It took him works of Albert Pinkham Ryder and Europe. He proposed that nature had just 36 hours by the reductive styles of Arthur Dove a hidden side beneath its façade, cit- train from New and John Marin. As a quintessential ing the riches of the mines under the York, a speed that figure of American individualism, earth. He published Economy of the George Inness, c. 1893.

40 Celebrating Community: Tarpon Springs, Relections on 125 Years

Soul Kingdom, a book which sought to understand man’s spiritual “soul kingdom” for revelations of truth. This theological doctrine (also called New Jerusalem or New Church) grew and strongly appealed to intellectu- als, writers and other creative thinkers in the 18th century. It was transported to the United States where it had a profound influence on the early 19th century transcendentalist thinkers. Inness became a follower in the 1860s and became the best- known visual artist associated with the organized religion. Prominent lit- erary figure affiliates included Ralph Waldo Emerson, Walt Whitman, Ed- gar Allen Poe, and Henry James.

When Inness came to stay in Tarpon Springs, he rented a small house on West Orange Street. At first his visits were short, but they grew longer Early Morning, in the last years, particularly in 1893 Tarpon Springs when he created the majority of his (1892), George Inness, American, 1825-1894, Tarpon Springs inspired paintings. Oil on canvas, 107.2 These works have Tarpon Springs in x 82.2 cm (42 1/8 x 32 3/8 in.), Edward their titles and are reflective of the B. Butler Collection, times of day: Early Moonrise, Early 1911.32, The Art Institute of Chicago. Morning, Eventide, Twilight, and Used by permission.

41 An Arts Legacy in Tarpon Springs

Moonlight. The masterpiece Inness created in Tarpon Springs was a larger work, measuring 30 x 45 inches. Julia Smith Inness c. 1925. The piece was titled The Photo courtesy of the Sun’s Last Reflection, al- Tarpon Springs Area Historical Society. though today it is better known as The Home of the Inness’s adult children shared many Heron, now in the collec- fond memories of Tarpon Springs. tion of the Art Institute of George Inness, Jr., a painter in his own Chicago (see first page of right and his father’s biographer, was this chapter). There are sev- 41 years old when his father died. He eral known studies for the destroyed over a hundred of his own painting, and it embodies paintings, which were inspired by his many of the principles of father’s style, because a vision told Inness’s scientific and re- him he needed liberation. He trav- ligious investigations. Its eled to Europe in search of his own enigmatic composition is direction (he had been born in Paris one of the few paintings in and studied with his father in Rome which Inness does not in- in the 1870s, so he was comfortable clude a human figure, and in European art circles). Returning its ethereal light and mid- to France, he studied at the art acad- tone coloration define an emies and won awards for paintings artist of poetic greatness. created in the beaux arts style (two Like many of his paintings of which were later donated to the Orange Road, Tarpon Springs (1893). George Inness (1825-1894). Oil on canvas, 30 x 25 in (41 x 36 in. framed). Gift of Mrs. James L. Rose in memory of her mother from the late period, of- Unitarian Universalist Church). He Mrs. William A. Smith (Accession No. 47.192). Indianapolis Museum of Art. Used ten entitled Sunset, the work also came under the influence of the by permission. Museum Label: In the hazy, vaporous atmosphere of this painting, Inness tried to meld the natural and spiritual worlds. metaphorically represents In- French Barbizon School of landscape ness in the twilight of his life. painting and it was here he truly found his voice.

42 Celebrating Community: Tarpon Springs, Relections on 125 Years

Inness, Jr. married into wealth and in New Jersey. In 1902 they decided ings to replace the windows. The first did not need to work for the rest of to visit Tarpon Springs to establish three paintings were based on scrip- his life. His father-in-law, Roswell a winter residence. They purchased tures selected by Mrs. Inness to rep- Smith, was the founder of the Cen- the home on West Orange Street resent the promise, realization and tury Publishing Company and had that George’s father had rented in the fulfillment of God’s revelation. These been a collector of George Inness 1890s. This was eventually named In- works were created at his Camp paintings. His daughter, Julia Go- ness Manor and was expanded into Comfort studio and incorporated the odrich Smith, was a New York so- a 27-room house, studio and artist landscape along the Anclote River as cialite and a commanding woman colony. They also purchased Camp a kind of Garden of Eden. who stood over six feet tall. She and Comfort, a property on the Anclote Inness, Jr. married in 1879 and she River about ten miles north of Tar- In 1922 Inness, Jr. created a second remained devoted to her husband pon Springs that often became the series of paintings called The Trip- while also pursuing her own social site of social gatherings during the tych because he was inspired by three and philanthropic interests. winter months. The Innesses spent lines: “He leadeth me; In green pas- many months each year in Tarpon tures; Beside the still waters” from When the Innesses returned to the Springs and, for nearly a quarter of the 23rd Psalm. The paintings also United States in 1900 they settled a century, integrated into the social introduce the signature “Inness (or elite of the growing com- sometimes called June) green” color- munity. ation for which he became famous. They were to serve as the altarpiece The story of the Inness, for the chancel of the church. Jr. paintings in the sanctuary of the Unitarian Inness, Jr. had finally found a style Universalist Church is that drew upon his deep spiritual- one of artistic and spiri- ity and reverence for nature. This tual philanthropy. When provided the legacy to validate his six windows were blown belief systems without emulating out of the church during those of his father. While Inness, the a storm in 1918, Inness father, believed God revealed him- Portion of a hand-colored postcard of the Universalist Church, c. 1930. offered to create paint- self through highly personal spiritual From the collection of the Tarpon Springs Cultural Center.

43 An Arts Legacy in Tarpon Springs

revelation, the soft-edged tonalist last painting. He finished it a few days until 1940. She attended services at style of Inness, Jr. imbued with “In- before he died on July 27, 1926. It was the church, became the founder of ness green” revealed the spiritual hung in the studio of his Cragsmoor the city’s library, and provided other light of God seen in nature and con- estate and served as the backdrop for social and civic support to the city veyed by the artist. his casket during the funeral. Given she had come to love. Over the years to the Unitarian Universalist Church the Unitarian Universalist Church Following the tour of The Only Hope, as a final act of spiritual kindness, has remained a good steward of the Inness, Jr. had the painting installed the large landscape painting provides Inness paintings, providing access in a side transept of the Unitarian an intimate view of a grove of trees, to thousands of visitors while main- Universalist Church. Understand- symbolizing nature as God’s true taining the necessary care of the ing that the church had become a sanctuary. paintings, including having them pantheon for his work, Inness began conserved in the early 1980s. The a companion piece for the opposite The legacy of George Inness, Jr. was City of Tarpon Springs has shown side. The Lord is in His Holy Temple kept alive by his widow Julia, who re- pride in the Inness legacy through (8 ft. 8 in, x 6 ft. 5 in.) was Inness, Jr.’s turned to Tarpon Springs each year its support of the arts. During the nation’s bicentennial celebrations The Triptych, based on the in 1976, the City established a pro- 23rd Psalm (1922). George gram for creating murals to reflect Inness, Jr. On display at the Unitarian Universalist Church, the community’s culture and devel- Tarpon Springs. oping a performing arts presence. In 1986 an Inness Manor Designer Showcase regenerated interest in the human story of the Innesses in Tar- pon Springs and, when the City celebrated its centennial in 1987, it recognized the Inness legacy by hosting a day-long symposium including two leading Inness scholars, Nico- lai Cikovsky, Jr. and Michael Quick, who presented perspectives on the

44 Celebrating Community: Tarpon Springs, Relections on 125 Years

Inness painters in Tarpon Springs SELECTED REFERENCES and their place in art history. Bell, Adrienne Baxter, George Inness and the Visionary Landscape, 2003, New York. The indelible mark of the Inness Cikovsky, Nicolai, Jr., George Inness, New legacy continues to attract artists York, 1993. who cherish the creative environ- Inness, George, Jr., Life, Art, and Letters of ment and civic commitment of Tar- George Inness, New York, 1917. pon Springs. When retired Michi- gan artist and educator Allen Leepa Mattson, Jane Bowie, George Inness, Jr.: From the Material to the Spiritual, Master of Arts sought out Tarpon Springs as a pre- Thesis, Florida State University, Tallahassee, ferred residence, his cultural phi- 1991. lanthropy led to the establishment Quick, Michael, George Inness: A Catalogue of the Leepa-Rattner Museum of Raisonné, New Brunswick, New Jersey, 2007. Art on the Tarpon Springs campus Richards, Louis J., George Inness, Jr.: Man of St. Petersburg College in 2002. and Artist, An Appreciation, New York, no Today, another Tarpon Springs fa- date (c. 1935). vorite son artist, Christopher Still, Richards, Mrs. Louis J. (Hope), Interpreta- The Lord in His Holy Temple (1926). George combines extraordinary artistic tal- tions of the Paintings of George Inness, Jr., Inness, Jr. On display at the Unitarian Universalist ent, love of history, and a belief in Tarpon Springs, no date (c. 1935). Church, Tarpon Springs. art as a force for social and cultural Stoughton, Gertrude K., Tarpon Springs awareness. Still’s eight large mu- Florida, The Early Years, Tarpon Springs rals of Florida’s history that hang Historical Society, Tarpon Springs, 1975. in the House of Representatives Chambers in Tallahassee proudly Special thanks to Phyllis Kolianos, Tarpon Springs Area Historical Society, for access to the Inness Ar- demonstrate that the arts legacy of chives; Dr. Kathleen Monahan, Director of Cultural Tarpon Springs continues, and will and Civic Services, City of Tarpon Springs, for access to materials associated with “The Life and Times of be passed on to future generations. the Inness Painters in Tarpon Springs, A Symposium, April 27, 1987;” and, John Tarapani, Tarpon Springs businessman, for sharing his knowledge and information regarding the Innesses in Tarpon Springs.

45 Chapter 5

World War II: The Home-Front War Gary R. Mormino, Ph.D.

46 Celebrating Community: Tarpon Springs, Relections on 125 Years

orld War II leveled old em- tional Bank of Commerce in Tarpon deep drinks and Homeric laughter Wpires and created new nation Springs represented two such casual- seemed called for.”2 states. The conflict obliterated an- ties.1 The 1930s had brought one bit cient boundaries and peoples in Eu- of good news to thirsty residents. In The woebegone decade of the 1930s rope and Asia while sowing the seeds 1933 newly elected President Frank- may have devastated the state’s con- of colonial upheaval in Africa and the lin D. Roosevelt and Congress ended struction and tourist trades, but a Middle East. But the war’s transform- the misguided effort to ban alcohol. series of developments buoyed local ing power also touched American When the United States, in a wave of spirits. The visit by former President cities and their residents. One such moral reform, passed the Eighteenth Calvin Coolidge brought favorable place was Tarpon Springs, Florida. Amendment in 1919 prohibiting the publicity. In 1932, Charles Rawlings, On the eve of World War II, Tarpon consumption of alcohol, few groups the soon-to-be ex-husband of Marjo- Springs was a small city, its inhabit- were as dumbfounded by the deci- rie Kinnan Rawlings, published “The ants numbering 3,402 in 1940. On VJ sion as Tarpon Springs Greeks. Au- Dance of the Bends,” a story about Day, August 14, 1945, Tarpon Springs’ thor Gertrude Stoughton described sponge divers in the Saturday Eve- future seemed boundless. Victory had local reaction: “The Greeks, whose ning Post. The New Deal’s hand was come with costs, and an examination pagan gods and ancestors had proba- felt in Tarpon Springs, as funds from of the years between 1940 and 1945 bly invented alcoholic beverages, saw the federal government dredged the reveals a complicated story involving no sense in the new law—especially Anclote River channel, constructed heroism and sacrifice, tumultuous the sponge men coming ashore after parks, and provided relief for the change and human tragedy. three or four months at sea. Some needy and destitute.3

1 Stoughton, 90, 96. 2 Stoughton, 90. The Terrible and 3 Stoughton, 90-102; Rawlings, 10-11, 80-83. Not-So-Terrible Thirties Floridians, for good reasons, celebrated the end of the “long decade” of the 1930s. The state of Florida had been reeling since 1926, when land values had collapsed, followed by the stock market crash of 1929. The Sun- set Hills Country Club and First Na- Sunset Hills Country Club, c. 1920. Photo courtesy of the Tarpon Springs Area Historical Society

Left: Hand-colored postcard “Sponge Fleet in Harbor, Tarpon 47 Springs , Fla., USA.” Based on a photograph c. 1939. In the collection of the Tarpon Springs Cultural Center. World War II: The Home-Front War

Golden Greek” Agganis. Accepting new customs was not tantamount to assimilation. Elderly Greeks also attended the movies. The Royal The- atre’s lineup included Greek-language films. Captain Scorpios featured an all-Greek “all talking and singing musical.” The Victrola record player Former President Calvin Coolidge (center) visits Tarpon Springs in 1930. Photo courtesy of the Tarpon Springs allowed young Americans to listen Area Historical Society. to their favorite Jazz Age tunes while elderly parents preferred Old-World Ironically, the depression decade New Technologies ballads, blues, and folk songs. Chica- brought record profits to the sponge and New Ways go became the center of a thriving for- industry. In 1930, Tarpon Springs’ Irresistible new technologies pro- eign-record and blues artist industry. boats brought to the Sponge Ex- foundly influenced the citizens of When Joe Louis, the “Brown Bomber” change a harvest amounting to Tarpon Springs: hidebound Greek fought, African Americans rooted for $800,000. Between 1935 and 1939, sponge divers and their impression- their hero as they heard his exploits sales consistently approached one 5 able teenage children; African-Amer- on the radio. million dollars, an astounding figure ican laborers and their families; Anglo for such a small community. New businessmen and Midwestern tour- technological developments made Rarely do new manners and customs ists. Radio and movies played power- sponging safer. The U.S. Coast Guard sweep everyone along the same social ful roles as a cultural disseminator of began announcing emergency mes- arc. Consider the children of Greek news and entertainment. Youth were sages to pilots, and in 1938, the radio immigrants born in the 1920s and especially drawn to the airwaves and station WDAE began broadcasting ’30s. Greek-Americans, like second- celluloid media, learning new dances daily weather reports in Greek.4 generation ethnics in Chicago or and lyrics from popular films and New York, felt whiplashed by parents tunes or more worldly tasks, such as who considered the old ways the best 4 Stoughton, 91-104; “With Sales of $1,035,533 Sponge Sales in 1939 Were Second Greatest in how to light a cigarette, dress like a 5 “Midnight Show at Royal for Greek Fund,” Hi s t or y,” Leader, January 5, 1940. Tarpon Springs lady, or run the bases like “Joltin’ Joe” Leader, March 28, 1941; “Theatre Attractions, At Leader hereafter referred to as Leader. the Royal,” Leader, January 7, 1944; Cohen, 124- DiMaggio or Aristotle George “the 29, 132-39, 260, 328.

48 Celebrating Community: Tarpon Springs, Relections on 125 Years ways and their peers who felt more By the 1930s, Greek-American stu- to go into something better. Maybe American than Greek, a generation dents flocked to Tarpon Springs High a lawyer.” Still another referred to staying in school longer, and feel- School. This was not always so. In the his parent’s generation, “They’re all ing the Americanizing influences early years, Greek women were scarce crippled up with the bends.” Parents, of the media and popular culture. and children were expected to work. however, expressed pride that their This tug-of-war fascinated social The 1917 yearbook, The Tarpon, did sons wished to better themselves.7 scientists and writers who described not include a single Greek surname Tarpon Springs. Consider the is- in the student body. By the 1930s, sue of courtship. In the late 1930s, Greek immigrants had decided to Gordon Lovejoy studied the area’s invest their futures in America and Greek community while writing Tarpon Springs. The Greek family ex- his master’s thesis. His observations ercised tremendous influence upon are noteworthy. He concluded that sons and daughters. A social worker many Greek immigrant fathers still testified that she could not recall any insisted on arranging marriages for Greek families on relief. Greek teen- Tarpon Springs High School Football Team, 1945. Yearbook collection, Tarpon Springs Area Historical their children. Lovejoy noted, “Such agers appeared to have been remark- Society Archives. a procedure as this is helped along ably law abiding and respectful of by the almost Oriental seclusion their parents. Greek-American sons Although most Greek immigrant in which the girls are kept. Since enjoyed freedoms their fathers ap- fathers neither understood nor ap- scarcely any of them have dates with preciated, but of which they did not proved of football or baseball, their either Greek or non-Greek boys, it is always approve. A sociology student sons proudly donned the maroon almost impossible for any of them to in the late 1930s observing Tarpon and white uniforms of Tarpon be courted.” Regarding Greek teen- Springs noted, “Boy after boy of high Springs High School. Athletic teams agers, the author observed, “the fact school age, when asked by the writer frequently resorted to benefit dinners that many of the Greek boys are, as a if he intended to be a [sponge] diver, and special events to raise needed result of the greater freedom which shook his head.” Another young stu- funds. The Quarterback Club sup- they enjoy, breaking away entirely dent, when asked about a career in ported local athletic teams. In 1940, from the old arranged marriages in sponging—an occupation that was the Leader apologized to readers that order to marry girls of their choice.”6 relatively prosperous during these dismal times—answered, “I want 7 Lovejoy, 53; Tarpon Springs Historical Society, 6 Lovejoy, 50-53. The Tarpon yearbooks.

49 World War II: The Home-Front War the team’s tattered football uniforms across Philco radios and flicker- “were shabbier than those worn by ing movie screens. Such immediacy any opponent.” Greek names pre- made international crises more inti- dominated the lineup, comprising mate and understandable.8 at least eight of the eleven starters, including the quarterback. Also illus- On the eve of Pearl Harbor, Greek trative of the era and local economies immigrants had succeeded wildly be- were the nicknames of the local high yond their dreams. The city and work school teams: the Tarpon Springs force depended largely upon the Spongers vs. the Largo Packers. sponge harvests. In no other city in the United States were Greeks so vital In Tarpon Springs, the years immedi- to a local economy and the lifestyle John Cocoris, c. 1916. ately preceding Pearl Harbor brought of its residents. In Florida, Greek- stated mission sought a “better un- dramatic and traumatic newsflashes Americans had maintained their val- derstanding and acquaintanceship over radios and banner headlines. ues and Americanized. Compared between Americans and those of The radio and movie theater played to most other immigrant groups Greek blood.”9 powerful roles as cultural dissemina- and natives, Greeks enjoyed a good tors of news and entertainment. For working relationship with African- But beyond the sponge dock, Ameri- local youth they served as guides to Americans. The rosters and leader- cans remained skeptical, even deri- the New Tarpon, the Vogue, the Cap- ship ranks of local city councils, bank sive, of most immigrants and their itol, and the Royal theatres which trustees, women’s clubs, restaurants, children. In 1942, shortly after Pearl also served generations of local resi- and football teams featured Greek Harbor, George Gallup confidentially dents. The new media brought the names. As early as 1916 the Greek- polled Americans and their attitudes world and international events to born pioneer John Cocoris served toward their foreign neighbors. The the living rooms and auditoriums of as sheriff and the first Greek on the question asked “how would you rate Tarpon Springs residents. In rapid Tarpon Springs City Council. Lead- the people…in comparison with succession, the Munich Crisis, Or- ing citizens had founded the Epiph- the people of the United States?” son Welles’ “War of the Worlds,” and any Lodge of the Greek-American Predictably, Americans ranked the Edward R. Murrow’s descriptions of Progressive Association. The lodge’s the Battle of Britain were broadcast 9 “New Association Elects Officers,” St. Peters- 8 Sklar, 161-248; Lenthall, 53-98. burg Times, January 14, 1936.

50 Celebrating Community: Tarpon Springs, Relections on 125 Years peoples of Northern and Western Greeks to death and then set the jail Europe “as good as we are in all re- on fire. Eventually the courts con- spects” the highest. Ranked directly victed the Cedar Key men. A decade behind Germany—and the United later the State of Florida refused to States had declared war against the pay the family of one of the Greek Nazis when the poll was taken—was victims. The family had asked for the Greece. Ranking below Greeks were sum of $3,500.11 Jewish refugees and Poles, while Ital- ians, Mexicans, and Japanese finished War and Occupation last. Clearly, Americans felt Greeks, of the Homeland along with Italian, Jewish, and Slav- Most Greek men who left their be- ic Americans, had not yet entered loved homeland hoped to return. mainstream American society.10 Upon repatriating, they would com- Article from the Tarpon Springs Leader, mand the respect that their new sta- October 28, 1940. The most sensational and graphic ex- tus guaranteed. And they did return ample of injustice to Greeks in Flor- in remarkable numbers—almost 50 tory military service. But historically, ida occurred in 1931. Three young percent—compared to other south- war heightens a sense of ethnic- Greek divers were enjoying a night ern and eastern Europeans.12 ity and belonging, and hundreds of of carousing in the Gulf Coast town Greeks put on hold their American 13 of Cedar Key. A local justice of the The call to arms also lured Greek em- dream to fight for their motherland. peace and sheriff’s constable arrested igrant patriots home. Between 1912 the men for drinking. Apparently, and 1913, over 40,000 Greek men re- The conflict in the Balkans reinforced they were flirting with one of the law- turned to fight the Turks in the First the perception of the Ottoman Em- men’s girlfriends. What should have Balkan War, including volunteers pire as the “sick man of Europe.” The been a minor offense turned tragic from a new beachhead at Tarpon fate of the Dodecanese Islands be- when the drunken officials beat the Springs. Ironically, many Greeks had came a pawn in the imperial struggle 10 “An Analysis of American Public Opinion to take advantage of the Ottomans’ Regarding the War,” A Confidential Report by emigrated, in part, to avoid manda- George Gallup, American Institute of Public far-flung and weakly-held empire. Opinion, 1942. President’s Personal Files, 4721, 11 Stoughton, 97; “$3,500 Is Sought for Slain On the eve of World War I, European Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park, New Sponger,” Leader, May 14, 1942. York. 12 Saloutos, 434; Frantzis, 180. 13 Saloutos, “Greeks,”434; Frantzis, 180.

51 World War II: The Home-Front War nations maneuvered to seize the last not blunt their sentiments: they for- deem Ancient Rome, guaranteed that remaining colonies in their imperial got not their duties,” wrote George the Dodecanese would remain under maws. Among the great European Frantzis, a Greek-born scholar and Italian control.15 powers, Italy desperately wanted a author of Strangers at Ithaca. “With seat at the imperial table. Bellicose dedication they taught their children, The Dodecanese islanders chafed leaders urged Italians to sanctify An- at school, at home, and in Church under Italian rule. George Frantzis cient Rome through martial victory that the Dodecanese islands must be eloquently summarized the conse- and imperial conquest. But where? liberated from Italy.” Greeks abroad quences of resistance: “All schools Italy eyed the Ottoman-held colony celebrated each May 21 as Greek In- and churches were closed; beatings, of Libya on the North African Medi- dependence Day. banishments, jailing, and self-im- terranean coast. Diplomatic leaders posed expatriation by groups of na- fabricated an excuse for war, and in Greeks at home and abroad expressed tives ensued…From the 150,000 resi- September 1911 the conflict began. confidence that the Treaty of Ver- dents within the Dodecanese, only Italy may have been woefully unpre- sailles following World War I would 60,000 remained. By the thousands pared for war, but the Ottoman Turks restore the Dodecanese Islands to they took refuge [abroad].16 were even less equipped. In the treaty the rightful heirs. In May 1919 U.S. that followed, Italy was awarded con- President Woodrow Wilson advised War’s Beginnings trol of the Dodecanese Islands, in- strongly that the 12 islands of the Do- On September 1, 1939, German forc- 14 cluding the prize of Rhodes. decanese, with their predominantly es crossed the Polish border, begin- Greek ethnic inhabitants, be returned ning the descent into a hellish chapter Tarpon Springs Greeks were crushed. to Greece. But Italy had earned a spot of history. On a human scale, World Even if, as some have argued, Italy at the peace table by dint of Allied War II is terrible beyond comprehen- was a kinder power than the Turks, victory, and in a series of maneuvers sion. Between September 1, 1939 and even if Italy proclaimed it was liber- that earned Italy the reputation as the August 14, 1945, the conflict claimed ating the islands from the yoke of the “jackal of international diplomacy,” 19 lives every single second. In a war Turks, rule from Rome was inher- Italy held on to the Dodecanese, as fought across five continents, Tarpon ently unjust. “And though thousands well as acquiring the city of Trieste Springs represents a mere postage of miles separated them from their and Austria’s Alto Adige-Trento ter- stamp on the map. But understand- island homes, time and distance did ritories. Benito Mussolini’s seizure of 15 Smith, 248-49; Bosworth, 96-97. power in 1922, and his pledge to re- 14 Smith, 241-49; Bosworth, 49, 96-97. 16 Frantzis, 180-82.

52 Celebrating Community: Tarpon Springs, Relections on 125 Years

ing the conflict at the local level al- ity of Spring Bayou had discovered lows an appreciation of the war and new destinations on the Gulf. Tarpon its consequences. Springs’ new appeal was the exotica of its Greek enclave, colorful vessels, In retrospect, the years 1939 to 1941 and curio shops. The annual Epiph- seemed idyllic. American farmers, any celebration drew increasingly industries, contractors, and fisher- larger crowds. By the 1930s, tens of men prospered. The local paper du- thousands crowded Spring Bayou; tifully reported weekly and monthly what had once been a local event was sponge sales. In 1939, sponge sales becoming a tourist spectacle. Mer- Pappas family with their famous Greek Salad, c. chants capitalized upon the oppor- 1942. Photo courtesy of the Tarpon Springs Area totaled one million dollars, barely Historical Society. tunities. E.M. White Jewelry adver- missing the record. The construction trip to Tarpon Springs seemed like tized, “Choice Assortment of Crosses business boomed as the federal gov- the closest thing to a Mediterranean and Chains.” A student interviewed ernment erected new airfields and cruise or a night out in Athens. An local businessmen in the late 1930s military bases in a rush to prepared- excursion to Tarpon Springs meant who thought that few tourists exist- ness. Tourists returned to Florida encountering a new world of smells, ed in the early days of sponging. “In and Tarpon Springs adjusted to a accents, and tastes: the first bite of the those days the rare tourist who did new tourist era. The elites that had Greek-American Bakery’s baklava, find his way to the community was once come for the springs and seren- the serendipity of finding potato in given sponges as a gift. How different Pappas’s Greek salad, and the sheer is the situation today!”17 adventure of ordering octopus and seeing the flaming fire of saganaki. An “authentic” meal at a Greek res- Whether residents and businesses re- taurant completed the encounter. alized what was happening, Tarpon “Fried shrimp and combination salad Springs was being reinvented.18 as prepared only by Louis,” promised an advertisement for Louis Pappas’ Events unfolding in Europe—the Riverside Café...Greek cooking.” To Battle of Britain, the invasion of many tourists and local residents, a

Original Pappas Restaurant, c. 1942. Photo courtesy of the 17 Lovejoy, 46. 18 Gabaccia, 114-17. Tarpon Springs Area Historical Society. 53 World War II: The Home-Front War

France, and the desert battles fought In November 1940, the War Depart- Developments.” The Italian govern- in North Africa—provoked a spirited ment announced plans for a bomb- ment, which had entered the war debate among Americans. As late ing range located just north of the on the side of Axis power Germany as December 6, 1941, a majority of Anclote River. Objections from in May of 1940, was ill-prepared for Americans opposed U.S. involvement fishermen mothballed the idea. In combat. Italian leader Benito Musso- in Europe. The reasons ranged from 1940, the Marine Engine Works and lini, apparently perturbed at playing bitter memories of trench warfare in Shipbuilding Company was awarded second fiddle to Adolf Hitler, ordered the Great War to historic attitudes of a small bid to construct six motor an invasion of Greece without even isolationism to American Firsters, but launches for the navy.20 consulting his paranoid but domi- Americans firmly resisted military in- nant ally, quipping that Herr Hitler volvement. In Tarpon Springs, divisions With the force of a thunderbolt could read about the events in the chiefly followed ethnic lines. For good across Mount Olympus, Italy invad- newspaper. The invasion was a mili- reasons, Greeks supported intervention. ed Greece on October 28, 1940. The tary fiasco, resulting in what one his- headline in the Leader trumpeted, torian called “Italy’s greatest military Intervention or isolation, America be- “Greece and Italy at War.” Il Duce disaster of the war.” Germany sub- gan preparing for war. In October 1940, had presented the Greek government sequently invaded Greece to salvage young men between the ages of 18 and a three-hour ultimatum to submit or the ill-fated operation.21 36 waited anxiously as the first peace- be annihilated, Greek Prime Minister time draft in American history unfold- Ioannis Metaxas replied simply, “Oxi! The press immediately dispatched ed. A headline in the local paper noted, (No!).” Metaxas, a monarchist, had reporters to Tarpon Springs to gauge “387 Draftees in Tarpon Register for seized power and dissolved the Greek public opinion. Writing in Collier’s Conscription.” Overall, 16 million men parliament in 1936. He was suspect- Weekly, the journalist Howard Hartley registered for the draft. Tarponites Her- ed by the West of fascist sympathies, wrote that prior to the invasion, Tar- bert Reece Powell and Anthony Proes- but he courageously rallied his coun- pon Springs was bitterly divided into tos “won” the lottery, as they held the trymen to resist the invaders. The two factions. “One group was pas- second and sixth numbers selected by Leader’s headline reported simply, sionately loyal to the Metaxas regime, a blindfolded Secretary of War Henry “Tarpon Residents Keenly Watching believing that the iron rule of the Hel- Stimson. Nine other local boys had their er, November 1, 1940; “387 Draftees in Tarpon lenic dictator had saved Greece from numbers drawn, as well.19 Springs,” Leader, October 18, 1940. Communism and chaos. The other 20 “Marine Engine Works Prepares to Build 19 “Tarponite Has Second Draft Number,” Lead- Small Boats for Navy,” Leader, November 3, 1940. 21 Smith, 407-8; Bosworth, 215, 461-64.

54 Celebrating Community: Tarpon Springs, Relections on 125 Years crowd clung tenaciously to the Veni- The plight of embattled Greece elec- Hollywood and Ath- zelos banner, offered refuge to exiles trified Tarpon Springs. “Greek Re- ens rallied to the of the mother country and denounced lief” served as a lodestar. The news- cause. Across Amer- Metaxas as a foe of democracy.” But the paper faithfully reported the donors ica, movie theaters invasion by Mussolini’s “invincibles” and contributions to Hellenic War served as dream facto- united the colony. “Italy’s declaration Relief. Mayor Craig declared Janu- ries that provided sev- of war upon the ancient kingdom of ary 6, 1941, Greek War Relief Day. eral hours of fantasy Greece,” observed the St. Petersburg Nick Arfaras led the local efforts. and magic in a world Times, “came as joyful news to Tarpon Arriving in Tarpon Springs in 1905, that needed hope and Springs Greek colony.” The reporter he had succeeded wildly, first don- escape. Hollywood explained. “Fascist Italy has long been ning a diver’s suit and then a business helped raise funds for March 28, 1941, an archenemy of the Hellenic nation suit as befitted the owner of the most Greece. Spyros Skouras embodied Tarpon Springs Leader. and with Greece’s entry into the Eu- successful sponge-packing business the American dream. A Greek immi- ropean conflict on the side of Britain, in Florida. Arfaras called a meeting grant who climbed the ladder to be- the Greek colony here looks for the at Philopotos Hall, urging all Greeks come president of Twentieth Century liberation of the thirteen Dodecanese to attend. Several speakers, observed Fox, Skouras generously supported islands.” George Emmanuel, a promi- a journalist, “”wore the white wool embattled Greece. Special midnight nent sponge buyer and merchant, tights and flaring skirts of the ev- showings of the Shirley Temple film, explained that he had three brothers- zones, whose bayonets drove the Bluebird, and the Merle Oberon film, in-law who were serving in the Greek Italians out of Koritza. . . More than Till We Meet Again, raised proceeds army and two cousins who were naval three thousand dollars tumbled into for the homeland. In Shrine of Vic- officers. He also pointed out that his the baskets.” The audience formu- tory, underground Greek artists doc- son Michel, a University of Florida lated a fund-raising plan. The finest umented a stirring saga of the resis- graduate, was serving aboard the USS sponges—every tenth specimen— tance efforts. The film appeared at the Illinois. Louis Smitzes, a sponge buyer were reserved for Greek war relief.23 Royal Theatre for the Benefit Greek and ship chandler prophesied that for Magazine on Greek War Relief,” Leader, March War Relief. “Now on the screen!” Russia would ultimately “come to the 28, 1941; “Hartley, 18-19; “News of War In Greece promised the movie marquee, “The 22 Excites Tarpon Springs,” Tampa Daily Times, aid of Greece.” October 28, 1940; “Tarpon Springs Greeks Say first rousing story of Greece’s de- 22 “Greeks in Tarpon Springs Rejoice Over First Loyalty to U.S.,” St. Petersburg Independent, November 1, 1940. By Calymian Society for War Funds,” Leader, Janu- Greece’s Refusal to Bow to Axis,” St. Petersburg ary 21, 1944. Times, October 28, 1940; “Data Being Gathered 23 Frantzis, 183-84; Hartley, 57; “$1,504 Raised

55 World War II: The Home-Front War

Greek campaign.” Before its depar- ture, the ambulance was displayed at the Halki Society dance at the Tarpon Springs Pavilion.26

Remember Pearl Harbor The first Sunday of December 1941 brought an extra hope of optimism. Across Florida, the date marked the official beginning of a tourist season that promised to be the greatest ever. Interior lobby and exterior of the Royal Theater on Tarpon Avenue, c. 1941. Photos courtesy of the Dupree Gardens, “the blossom center Tarpon Springs Area Historical Society. of Florida,” a popular tourist attrac- fiance that rocked the Axis…and tion located in nearby Pasco County, thrilled the world.” A review noted Major George Hatzistavris arrived in opened its gates. The Tarpon Springs that a copy of the film “was smuggled Tarpon Springs in December 1940. A Chamber of Commerce beamed with out of Greece…” Special admission war hero, a Greek army officer and a optimism knowing that it had pur- fees ranged from $1.10 for adults to political exile, the major arrived with chased ample advertising space in 24 30 cents for children. the purpose of recruiting American northern newspapers urging Yankees volunteers for the cause. Politics— to come south this winter. State chair- For some, neither Hollywood fanta- the U.S. Selective Service Act and the man of the Greek War Relief associa- sies or harsh documentaries softened official American policy of neutral- tion, John Diamandis, announced the anguish of being helpless to assist ity—foiled the major’s plans. An am- that a massive shipment of food had family. Nicholas Giallourakis, heart- bulance purchased with “Bundles for been dispatched to Greece.27 broken that he could not help his Britain” relief funds, also appeared in In 1941 Sunday mornings were insep- family stranded in war torn Greece, Tarpon Springs. Don Avril, a St. Pe- arable from church. Tarpon Springs committed suicide.25 tersburg mechanic, was raising funds 24 Saloutos, 436; “Midnight Show Saturday at for Greek relief before he and the am- 26 “Ambulance and Driver Bound for Greece Royal for Greek Fund,” Leader, March 28, 1941; bulance departed “for service in the Stop in City,” Leader, January 17, 1941. “Shrine of Victory,” Leader, January 7, 1941. 27 “Newspaper Advertising in Northern Papers 25 “Despondent Over Fate of Family in Greece,” Leader, January 17, 1941. Placed By Chamber of Commerce,” “Churches.”

56 Celebrating Community: Tarpon Springs, Relections on 125 Years parishioners belonged to 15 differ- coops, appeared on platters fried and games on the radio. The more popu- ent churches, ranging from All Saints spiced, smothered in a tomato sauce lar college games were re-broadcast Memorial Episcopal Church to the or baked. Wood-burning stoves could Sunday afternoons. Young Greeks Emmanuel Tabernacle. The Leader still be found in many kitchens. An cheered their All-American ethnic listed six separate “Negro Churches,” exotic feast awaited Greek Orthodox compatriots, football stars Vincent including Mt. Moriah A.M.E. Church returning from the Sunday Divine Banonis (University of Detroit) and and Macedonia A.B.C. Church.”28 Liturgy: youvetsi (lamb with orzo), John Grigas (Holy Cross). During Sunday afternoons in December 1941 keftedes (meatballs) and potatoes in a Sunday afternoon leisure men might reflected the blending of ancient and tomato sauce, fila (Dodecanese-style wander to the Baynard Drug Compa- modern customs. The Sunday after- dolmades), a tomato-cucumber salad, ny—“where the gang goes”—or the noon dinner had long been enshrined and Greek bread. Bakeries worked Venizelos Coffee House, named after as an institution in the South, and overtime to supply the Sunday de- a Greek patriot.30 Tarpon Springs dinner tables reflected mand. Sweet potato pie, baklava, or a the diversity of its eclectic population. simple arrangement of figs, citrus, and Shortly after 2:26 p.m., announcers African-American families had large- mangos satisfied a variety of tastes. interrupted the radio broadcasts. On ly arrived in the late 19th and early American black coffee or thick Greek CBS, John Daly told listeners, “The 20th centuries, drawn by work build- coffee completed the meal.29 White House has announced that ing the railroads, jobs in the sponge planes with red markings have at- industry, lumber and construction In a society that demanded long tacked Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.” Most trades. Black women toiled as laun- hours of hard labor, Sunday spelled Americans had no idea where Pearl dresses, cooks and domestic servants. rest. Sundays traditionally attracted Harbor was, but the word spread by Black or white, Greek or WASP, Sun- many patrons to the cinema. Among telephone, telegram, and radio that day meals paid tribute to the harvests the films playing local on December Japan had attacked America. The from the Gulf or freshwater lakes and 7th were You’ll Never Get Rich, star- next day they listened to President creeks, the handiwork of gardeners, ring Fred Astaire and Rita Hayworth, Roosevelt speak of “December 7th, and the sign that a bountiful table af- and One Foot in Heaven, starring 1941, a date which will live in in- firmed the American dream. Chicken, Frederic March and Martha Scott. famy.” Within days America declared often freshly drawn from backyard Young males often listened to football war against Japan, Germany, and Italy. 29 The author expresses thanks to Dr. Tina 30 “Baynard Drug Co. Celebrates Its 20th 28 Churches,” and “Shipment of Food,” in Bucuvalas who interviewed elderly Greek women Birthday,” Leader, 8 June 1945; “New Tarpon,” and Leader, December 5, 1941. to recreate a 1941 Sunday meal. “Royal Theatre,” Leader, December 5, 1941.

57 World War II: The Home-Front War

New Realities Remember Pearl Harbor and Wake Island—the admission fee changed. Rarely had the ordinary rhythm of ev- Occasionally patrons received admis- eryday life changed as dramatically as sion for a contribution to a cause, or it did after Pearl Harbor. Illustrating in one case, the donation of a piece of this point, the first issue of the Leader rubber or a musical instrument. Even following Pearl Harbor contained the the simplest pleasures—extra spoon- following headlines: “Here’s What fuls of sugar and a second cup of cof- to Do If Air Raid Comes,” “Defense fee—were suspended “for the dura- Plans For City Are Made Wednes- tion.” But residents accepted the new day,” and “Patriotic Program Given restrictions with an understanding Thursday By P.T.A.” Another story that they were all in it together. Per- explained that Navy had modified its spective also mattered. In March 1942 physical standards and asked young Coast Guard at Anclote Key, c. 1942. Photo cour- Commander Comerford, chairman of men to reapply for service. Readers tesy of the Tarpon Springs Area Historical Society. the Upper Pinellas chapter of the Red quickly learned new terms that de- ers, already a rarity in public schools, Cross, announced that it was impossi- fined wartime: blackout, air raid, and became even rarer as teachers, too, ble to ship food to the starving Greeks “for the duration.”31 volunteered for the war. In one of of the Dodecanese Islands. That same the war’s more curious changes, month, Lt. Commander C.F. Edge of Tarponites also learned to accept new Washington’s shadow touched public the U.S. Coast Guard announced that realities. The pre-war pleasures of schools. In a ritual few could remem- “for the duration, no one will be al- a Sunday excursion, a new car, and ber when it started, school children lowed on main Anclote key.”32 beach bonfires fell victim to shortag- began the day reciting the Pledge of es, rationing, and security. A favorite Allegiance. A new policy ordered that Children adapted to a new world and pastime, attending the movies, also henceforth, “students...will salute the a new order. Many fathers and older adjusted to the times. In addition to American flag with right hand over brothers were in uniform and gone the proliferation of patriotic themes— the heart instead of the outstretched during the war years. Male teach- 31 “Defense Plans,” and “Here’s What to Do open palm.” Clearly, any old custom If Air Raid Comes,” Leader, December 12, 1941; 32 “Impossible to Get Food to Italian Islands: that resembled Nazism was replaced “Practice Blackout Tonight,” Leader, January 2, Red Cross,” Leader, March 27, 1942; “Public Is 33 1942; “Practice Blackout Here Is Very Successful,” Barred From Anclote Key,” Leader, March 27, and reformed. Leader, January 9, 1942. 1942. 33 “School Children To Salute With Hand Over

58 Celebrating Community: Tarpon Springs, Relections on 125 Years

The Fourth Estate before a crowd of 5000 spectators, he Goes to War “realized the dream of years and re- covered the cross.” The Leader noted, The Leader’s owner-editor was “For the first time this year [1941] the the remarkably talented Helen A. services lost their purely ecclesiastical Hennig, a rarity in an age of male- significance. Mingling with the elab- dominated journalists and editors. orately brocaded robes of the priests After her husband, Major Jay Hen- as they paraded though the flag-lined nig, died in 1940, Mrs. Hennig took streets were the skirted uniforms of the reins of the newspaper that had Helen Hennig and staff of the Tarpon Springs Leader, Foustanella and Evzone, the Greek reported local news since its begin- c. 1942. Photo courtesy of the Tarpon Springs Area Historical Society. mountain troops.” Theophilis Katras nings in 1910. The Leader’s staff of returned for the 1944 Epiphany. By four included three women. During across Poland and Germany, D-Day then he was Corporal Katras.35 the war, the Leader was sent free to and Iwo Jima, and home-front pros- local servicemen stationed at home perity and sacrifice. 34 Wings Over and abroad. Tarpon Springs In war and peace, the annual Epipha- The front page of the Leader pro- ny celebration continued; indeed, the Only days after Pearl Harbor, the U.S. vides a cavalcade of Tarpon Springs’ sacred rite reminded parishioners Navy advertised in the local paper for role in a far-flung war. Front page and tourists, bishops and agnostics, the “toughest job in the world—deep local events—visitations by resi- why we were fighting. The Leader sea diving.” Philip George Fatolitis, dents’ elderly aunts, the deaths of the described the mood and moment of John Katras, and Anthony Proes- prominent and not-so-prominent each wartime Epiphany. The throw- tos volunteered to become vaunted citizens, the weekly sales of sponges, ing of the golden cross represents a “frogmen,” members of the Navy’s and even the death of the Flanagan’s dramatic climax of the festivities, one Underwater Demolition Team. The 35-year-old family parrot—inter- symbolizing the casting of the gos- war took the much celebrated Fato- sected with the sweeping forces of pel upon the troubled waters of the litis to the South Pacific, where he history: the Red Army sweeping world and man’s struggle to retrieve 35 “Patriotic Touch Added to Epiphany Cel- and attain truth. The anxious divers ebration By Offering Victory Prayers,” Leader, Heart,” Leader, May 14, 1942. January 9, 1942; “Thousands Witness Colorful 34 Stoughton, 92, 106, 114; Hennig file, Tarpon included Theofilis Katras. In 1941, Rites as Sponge Colony Celebrates Epiphany,” Springs Historical Society. Leader, January 14, 1944.

59 World War II: The Home-Front War

tions in the early 1930s, Florida be- port men and weapons from ship to came a citadel, home to almost two shore. Designed by Clearwater resi- Left: Navy diver Anthony Proestos hundred bases and camps, bombing dent Donald Roebling in a machine Below: Coast Guard ranges and blimp stations. On the eve shop on his estate, the “Alligator” was at Villa Plumosa. of Pearl Harbor, Pinellas County was used in the Pacific Theater. Honey- Photos courtesy of the Tarpon Springs Area an isolated, lightly settled peninsula, moon Island doubled as a Pacific Is- Historical Society. its population barely topping 90,000. land where Marines hit the beach.38 Famous for its pristine beaches and tourist camps, Pinellas County be- The Army Air Forces established came an armed camp; beaches were bases in St. Petersburg, Belleair, and routinely assaulted by amphibious Clearwater. The U.S. Coast Guard troops, tanks, and bombers. Tarpon maintained a large installation along Springs obtained a small Coast Guard Bayboro Harbor in St. Petersburg. facility to keep track of the myriad Across Tampa Bay, Tampa was home craft navigating St. Joseph Sound. to two huge Army Air bases: Drew Coast Guardsmen bivouacked at the Field and MacDill Field. Servicemen Villa Plumosa. In 1943, the city host- crisscrossed the area, and many vis- ed a banquet and dance for the crew ited Tarpon Springs to experience a dove, helped build a lighthouse, sur- of the visiting Greek vessel, King Greek colony in America. Tarpon vived a sinking ship, and many other George II. City Commissioner Mike Springs families and churches often harrowing episodes.36 Samarkos raised $2,600 for the Greek invited servicemen to dinners and War Relief Fund.37 dances.39 From a handful of military installa- Nearby Dunedin boasted the Am- Daily, residents became familiar with 36 “Navy Opens for Applicants for Deep Sea phibian Tractor Detachment, Ma- the sounds and sights of P-38 Light- Diving,” Leader, December 19, 1941;“A Last Link to Sponging Industry’s Good Old Days,” Tampa rine Corps. There, recruits learned Bay Times, February 11, 2012; “Local Youth Re- to maneuver the Roebling “Alligator,” 38 “Amphibian Tanks Received by Coast Gu ard ,” Leader, August 21, 1945; “WWII Marine cruited to Serve As Diver with the Coast Guard,” a two-track vehicle that could trans- Leader, September 11, 1942; “Former Diver Corps Amphibious Vehicle Was Developed in Enlists as Naval Diver,” Leader, August 14, 1942; 37 “Coast Guard to Return Villa Plumosa to Dunedin,” Pinellas Newsboy, July 5, 2009. information about Mr. Fatolitis provided by Tina Owners,” Leader, January 14, 1944; Stoughton, 39 Mormino, Hillsborough County Goes to War, Bucuvalas. 109. 13-14, 89-97.

60 Celebrating Community: Tarpon Springs, Relections on 125 Years

nings, B-17 Flying Fortress bombers, and B-26 Martin Marauders roar- ing overhead. Abraham L. Tarapani, a prominent Lithuanian-born Jew- ish businessman, World War I veteran, and owner of the New York Department Store, headed the local civilian-manned, 24 hours a day, aircraft spotting post. He also served as

the commander of the Fernald-Millas Left: Handmade birthday card for Abraham American Legion post. Volunteers sur- Tarapani signed by many well-known Tarponites veyed the skies from the tower located including Helen Hennig, Bill Noblit, Mike Tsalickis, Lucille Ferguson, Mayor Craig and family (1943). at the city pier, vigilant to the threat of Above: Spotting tower at the beach. Courtesy of the 40 German Stuka dive bombers. Tarpon Springs Area Historical Society.

Harrowing accounts document the dramatic stories. Lt. Charles Priest Gertrude Stoughton described “the Jr. was piloting a P-51 Mustang sighted a parachute attached to a float- most spectacular air display of the when the aircraft malfunctioned and ing figure west of the Anclote Light- war,” a combat training exercise that crashed. The pilot managed to para- house. When the floating body was involved more than 200 planes— chute and land safely in the Gulf of hoisted aboard the vessel, fishermen “Flying Fortresses, Mustangs, War- Mexico. The crew of the sponge boat discovered the figure was a dummy! It hawks, and Thunderbolts”—over the Elizabeth Ann witnessed the event. turned out that the dummy was a dou- Anclote Lighthouse. Newspapers car- Captain Mike Miales managed to lo- ble used in the 1943 Howard Hawks ried many accounts of training disas- cate and rescue the pilot. On another film, Air Force. Filmed at Drew Field, ters. In 1942, two army training planes occasion, a McCreary Fishery boat Air Force starred John Garfield, Harry tangled wings over Clearwater and 41 Carey, and Gig Young. crashed, resulting in two deaths.42 40 “Civilian Aircraft Spotting Post Is Organized By Tarapani,” Leader, December 19, 1941; “Abe 41 “P-51 Mustang Burns in Gulf,” Leader, July L. Tarapani Reelected Legion Post Commander,” 13, 1945;”Pursuit Plane Falls in Gulf,” Leader, May Leader, April 17, 1945; Tarapani family file, Tar- 15, 1942; “Movie Dummy Found Floating in Gulf.” County Goes to War, 95-96. pon Springs Historical Society. Leader, August 28, 1945; Mormino, Hillsborough 42 Stoughton, 107.

61 World War II: The Home-Front War

Enemy Aliens his brother, Dr. Theo Tsangaris, to shortwave radio sets, cameras, and Tarpon Springs. Theophilis recently firearms; the law also required such As international crises roiled the wa- was graduated from University of persons to register and carry at all ters of diplomacy and politics, Greek Tampa. Gianicuris had arrived in times certificates of identification. immigrants became understandably Tampa Springs from Turkey in 1910. Furthermore, they were prohibited nervous by the late 1930s. Since the A fisherman, he tied up his sponge access to certain areas, a regulation U.S. Congress imposed strict immi- boat to attend language school and that hurt fishermen. When journal- gration quotas in 1924, the stream of become a citizen. “[Monday] he ists described the new legislation as Greek immigrants had slowed down. sailed...his boat for the sponge banks “Draconian,” few realized the irony. Moreover, ethnic Greeks resided in [as] an American Citizen,” the Leader Draco was a 7th century bc Athe- Turkey and the Dodecanese Islands, observed in September 1941. Giani- nian tyrant who imposed the death further confusing their status. The curis and Tsangaris could not have penalty for even minor offences. life histories of Theophilis Tsangaris imagined how their lives and adopt- However, Greek-Americans had in- and Demetrios Gianicuris provide ed country would change in two and fluential friends. “In the internal af- a fascinating window into the era. a half months.43 fairs of America,” observed George The two men pleaded with Federal Frantzis, “95 percent of the spong- Judge William Barker to speed up In a cruel twist of history, the decla- ers of Tarpon Springs belong to the the path to citizenship. Immigrants ration of war against the Axis Pow- Democratic Party.” On the national, who wished to become American ers meant that Greek immigrants not state, and local level, the Democrat- citizens first had to fill out a petition, yet naturalized as American citizens ic Party dominated the 1940s, and a form which asked life history data: were suddenly subject to new con- Greeks strategically took advantage place and date of birth of the appli- cerns and scrutiny because they were of their alliances. Florida U.S. Sena- cant (and wife and children, if appli- classified as Italians and therefore tor Claude Pepper, whose wife grew cable), place and date of embarkation “enemy aliens.” In Tarpon Springs, up in St. Petersburg, visited Tarpon and arrival, and employment. The 700 Greeks born on the Dodecanese Springs frequently. Powerful friends applicant also provided witnesses as were classified as Italian nationals. besieged U.S. Attorney General Fran- to character. Following a period of The FBI ordered Italian and Greek cis B. Biddle, arguing that “the Tar- three to five years and the successful enemy aliens to surrender their pon Springs Greeks were loyal Amer- passage of an exam, the immigrants icans who hated the Italian rulers of became citizens. Theophilis followed 43 “2 Local Aliens in Group Becoming Citi- their homeland.” In February 1942, zens,” Leader, September 19, 1941.

62 Celebrating Community: Tarpon Springs, Relections on 125 Years

Biddle announced that Greek im- Church officials decided to hold the migrants from the Italian-occupied 1942 Epiphany services in the par- Dodecanese Islands were no longer tially built new church. Archbishop considered “enemy aliens.”44 Athenagoras understood the symbol- ism of the Epiphany during a time of The New Cathedral war. Nicholas G. Lely, the Greek con- The growth and prominence of the sul-general arrived from New York. Greek community required a new The Leader described the setting: church. In April 1941, ground was “Tarpon Springs was gay with flags broken for a new church with a price and buntings, streamers and tapes- tag starting at $75,000. The task of tries depicting the first Epiphany, raising such a sum was daunting, Greek and American flags flying side given that the community was al- by side.” The Archbishop implored ready raising significant funds for the crowd, “It is needless for me to Interior of the new Greek Orthodox church, c. 1946. Greek Relief. Moreover, the home appeal to you and particularly the front was committed to the purchase spiritual children of the Greek Or- cials had no way of shipping the mar- of war bonds and constant donations thodox Church and of eternal Greece, ble home. Tarpon Springs leaders, to worthy causes. An unexpected gift to lend your fullest and wholehearted N.G. Arfaras and George Frantzis, arrived from Greece. The Greek gov- cooperation to the fight in which our visited Washington to confer with ernment had constructed a lavish pa- country now is now engaged.” The St. the Greek ambassador. The Greek vilion made from 60 tons of marble Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church government promptly announced 46 quarried on Mount Petele for the was consecrated April 23, 1944. the gift of marble for the construc- 1939 World’s Fair in New York City. tion of St. Nicholas Church. Arfaras By the time the festivities ended, war At 5:30 on the morning of June also skillfully purchased 60 tons of had broken out in Europe and offi- 6, 1944, the bells of St. Nicholas steel only months before Pearl Har- awakened the inhabitants of Tar- 44 “Registration of Aliens by Post Office Here bor and subsequent shortages and pon Springs. A loudspeaker playing Nears 500,” Leader, November 1, 1940; “Pinellas restrictions.45 “God Bless America” accompanied Enemy Aliens Have Till Feb. 14 to Give Up Con- traband,” Leader, February 6, 1942; “Greeks from the pealing of bells. D-Day, the Al- Aegean Islands Not Classed as Enemy Aliens,” Leader, February 20, 1940. 45 Stoughton, 70-73. 46 “Patriotic Touch,” Leader, January 9, 1942.

63 World War II: The Home-Front War lies long-anticipated invasion of France, Moviegoers at Tarpon Springs’ movie Women dominated the volunteer had begun. “Hundreds of persons of theaters understood the vicar’s mes- ranks. Women rolled bandages for all denominations and creeds filled St. sage. The home front’s finest hour the Red Cross, baked baklava for Nicholas church,” reported the Leader, may have been the extraordinary fund raisers, polished the church “to take part in solemn prayer service outpouring of volunteers. altar, and worked through their tra- commemorating D-day.” The Rev. E.E. ditional networks to raise funds and Snow presided over the ceremony.47 From its beginnings, Tarpon Springs morale “for the duration.” Mrs. Guil- residents formed myriad voluntary ley Clarke, volunteering from her Patriotic sermons infused American associations. Such societies cut across perch at the pier tower, helped save churches and Tarpon Springs was no ethnic, racial, and class lines. During a pilot whose plane had crashed in exception. The chaplain at MacDill the war, a special urgency character- the Gulf. Young women poured cof- Field in Tampa occupied the pulpit at ized volunteerism. Children contrib- fee and danced with servicemen at the First Presbyterian Church, choosing uted to the war effort by collecting the recreation room of the local Ma- a theme of “the servicemen’s service.” everything from old tires to aluminum sonic Temple. Meredith Topliff Hu- pots to newspapers. Posters urged citi- palo, a local artist, designed the in- A People’s War zens to convert waste paper into “suits signia for the Hellcat Squadron. Her “This is not only a war of soldiers in of armor.” Residents recycled bacon brother John Walter Topliff served uniform; it is a war of the people, of fat to be turned into explosives. In in the Hellcat Squadron. For sheer all the people, and it must be fought one week in 1944, volunteers hauled sacrifice, two Tarpon Springs moth- not only on the battlefield, but in the six tons of scrap metal from Tarpon ers deserved special accolades. Mrs. cities and in villages, in the factories Springs to Tampa, including old boat William McFather was mother of and on the farm, in the home and motors, Model T’s, and tractors. “Gi- eight sons, five serving in the military ant Drive for Scrap,” announced the in the heart of every man, woman, $2,440,” Leader, November 5, 1943; “Elementary child who loves freedom. This is the Leader. “Every Tarpon Springs resident Pupils Enroll 100 Per Cent In Junior Red Cross,” people’s war!” Thus the vicar pas- will be called upon Wednesday to help Leader, November 29, 1942; “USO Drive in Tar- ‘crack the Axis’ in a city-wide ‘Junk pon Exceeds Quota on Opening Day,” Leader, May sionately explained to his congrega- 15, 1942; “Much Aluminum Is Collected in Drive,” tion when informed that Britain was Rally.’” Weekly, the Leader reported the Leader, July 25, 1941; “Tin Salvage Drive,” Leader, purchases of war bonds and stamps by March 23, 1945; “$1,504 Raised by Calymnian at war, in the 1942 film, Mrs. Miniver. Society for War Funds,” Leader, January 21, 1944; 48 area students and teachers. “Four Tons of Scrap Collected,” Leader, August 21, 47 “Impressive Service Held at Cathedral Ob- 1945; “Convert County’s Wastepaper into ‘Suits of serving D-Day,” Leader, June 9, 1944. 48 “War Bond and Stamp Sales at Schools Are A r m or,’” Leader, April 20, 1945..

64 Celebrating Community: Tarpon Springs, Relections on 125 Years and three working in defense plants, also poured unfathomable amounts for skilled trades resulted in some while Mary Stamathis pointed with of federal and private money into residents commuting to Tampa for pride at her five sons in the service.49 the economy. Perhaps the most un- work in the burgeoning shipyards. usual economic contribution to the The demand for welders was so acute But it would be a mistake to assume war effort was played by the Saun- that hundreds of women entered the that the war’s spirit of sacrifice and ders Venom Extract Company. A lo- shipbuilding profession to become camaraderie dissolved immorality cal businessman-outdoorsman, Paul “Joans of Arc.” and lawlessness. While most citizens Saunders, developed and manufac- obeyed rationing regulations, a flour- tured snakebite kits. Saunders began But sponging dominated the war- ishing black market catered to those manufacturing kits in November time economy, as it had the previous who wished to ignore the law. In 1942. His timing was providential: four decades. In the panic following 1942, Mayor J.M. Young summoned American troops were encountering Pearl Harbor and the fears of enemy civic leaders to address “the perplex- jungle terrain at Guadalcanal. As if aircraft and vessels pummeling the ing problem arising from the sale of volcanic islands and tropical diseas- coasts, the government imposed a se- intoxicating liquors to servicemen es were not bad enough, poisonous ries of laws that undermined the lo- stationed here.” The chief of police snakes lurked. The Saunders snake- cal economy and threatened to para- argued that the problem could be bite kit each contained a scalpel, a lyze fishing and sponging. A familiar traced to “jook joints” lying outside tourniquet, a vacuum suction pump, pattern emerged: Federal authorities city boundaries.50 an antiseptic, and instructions. The decreed new laws restricting access Canadian government purchased to the sponge beds or the availabil- Sponges Will 41,000 kits. Saunders later made his ity of necessary equipment. Greeks Win the War kits available to the public.51 negotiated and quarreled, appealed World War II interrupted and altered and compromised, and in the end, the rhythms of work, but the conflict The war boosted the Tarpon Springs harvested rich profits during the war shipbuilding industry. The Marine years.52 49 “83,140 Surgical Dressings Made in Year by Red Cross Class,” Leader, January 7, 1944; “Tar- Engine Works received two contracts 52 “Shortage of Diving Suits Is Threat to Sponge ponite Paints Insignia for New Hellcat Squadron,” from the Navy to build boats for an- In du s t r y,” Leader, February 6, 1942; “Sponge In- Leader, September 17, 1943; “Five Stamathis ti-submarine activity. A tight labor dustry Faced With Loss of Sponge Beds in Target Brothers in Service,” Leader, June 22, 1945. Range,” Leader, September 19, 1941; “Night Fish- 50 “Conference Called To Seek Solution of Jook force, union wages, and the demand ing in Inland Waters Is Modified,” Leader, August Joint and Liquor Problem,” Leader, August 21, 14, 1942; “Fishermen Ask For Relief From Ban On 1942. 51 Stoughton, 108. Night Fishing,” Leader, November 6, 1942; “Gulf

65 World War II: The Home-Front War

Days after Pearl Harbor, the govern- tions that affected fishing and spong- Hometown Heroes ment announced that rubber was a ing. In July 1942, the Coast Guard The Leader kept readers alerted as to critical wartime resource, and was banned vessels from overnight fish- the grand movement of armies and subject to strict rationing. Sponge diving. Captains claimed yields had navies, as well as the journeys of the ers complained that most diving suits fallen by 50 percent. Spongers had local “boys.” Each wartime issue con- had been manufactured and imported to adjust to returning daily. One tained a story on individuals as well from Japan. Complaints flowed to month later, the Coast Guard lifted as group portraits. On Christmas day Washington, and politicians lobbied the ban on 85 Tarpon Springs boats. 1942 a front-page story, “Ten Tarpo- on behalf of Tarpon Springs. Quickly, Sales for the years 1942 were impres- nites Listed in Draft Call For Next the War Production Board announced sive ($1.7 million), but the 1943 to- Week” was published, including indi- that the sponge industry was consid- tal of $2.3 million broke the record vidual names. In November 1943, the ered “A-1 priority.” Rubber shipments as the most profitable year ever. The Leader reported that 522 men and arrived to meet the demand for new Leader boasted, “This picturesque women from Tarpon Springs were sponges. Prices soared, as the military capital of the world’s sponge indus- serving in the armed forces. Almost needed sponges for “cleansing mate- try today is enjoying a greater mea- a year after Pearl Harbor, the dreaded rial for the fine lens of range finders sure of war prosperity than any other story appeared: “First Tarpon Casu- and periscopes, crash pad upholstery community in Pinellas County.” The alty Is Reported Killed On Guadal- for war planes and tank corps helmets sponge industry continued to soar, canal.” The paper reported somberly and wipers for various phases of pre- breaking still another record in 1944 the fate of Anthony Antonoglou, U.S. cision gear manufacture.”53 ($2.55 million). An observer, George Marine Corps, 18-year-old son of A. Frantzis, summarized the frenzy: Antonoglou, Sponge Exchange shop- To harvest sponges, access to the rich “During the years 1941 to 1947 sev- keeper. In May 1943, readers learned sponge beds was necessary. Wartime enty diving boats and about 123 that Mrs. Steve Zalampas had re- imposed new burdens and regula- “Gantzerika” were bought and the ceived a letter stating, “The Secretary industry directly or indirectly em- Coast Ban on Fishing Is Eased Slightly: Leader, of War desires that I tender his deep ployed about 1200 men.”54 February 26, 1943. sympathy to you in the loss of your 53 “Shortage of Diving Suits Is Threat to Sponge 54 “Coast Guard Lifts Ban on 48 More Tarpon In du s t r y,” Leader, February 6, 1942; “Increase in Springs Boats,” Leader, August 7, 1942; “Sponge son, PFC Orby L. Kelly.” In 1945, the Rubber Supply For Diving Suits Is Recommend- Sales Total Two Millions to Set New Highs,” Lead- Leader announced the deaths of Sgt. e d ,” Leader, March 13, 1942; “Peterson Asks U.S. er, November 5, 1943; “Sales for 1943 Amount to Aid for Tarpon Springs Sponge Industry,” Leader, $2,305,359; Greatest Year in History of Industry,” R.D. Sanders in a German prisoner February 26, 1943. Leader, January 7, 1944; Frantzis, 195.

66 Celebrating Community: Tarpon Springs, Relections on 125 Years

of war camp and Alan D. Roberts piloted B-17 bombers and bombed Clement McMullen, a graduate of in the Pacific.55 Amid the tragic an- targets in Germany. Locals read the Tarpon Springs High, became the nouncements were stirring stories accomplishments of George Smitzes, city’s most highly ranked veteran. of heroism and patriotism. Tarpo- a former sponge diver who rose from Promoted to brigadier general in nites from all classes, ethnicities, and first lieutenant to captain; Lieuten- 1942 and major general the follow- races participated in WWII. Elbert ant Bernard Mountain, whose air ex- ing year, his military career began E. Gnann vacated his post as Tarpon ploits in the Pacific Theater included in 1917 when he trained as an army Springs police chief to join the Navy the sinking of a Japanese submarine aviator. Following the Great War, he Seabees. At the time of his enlist- and four supply ships; and Lieuten- broke several aviation speed records. ment, reported the paper, Gnann an- ant John W. Lyons’ actions aboard a During WWII, he was awarded two nounced that he “was enlisting to get B-25 bomber against German tar- Distinguished Service Medals, and a crack at the Japs.” Indeed, he did, gets during the invasion of southern in 1944 was appointed Commanding for it was later reported that Gnann France. Major Arthur Ball received General of the Far East Air Force.57 had captured four Japanese prisoners the Bronze Star for his bravery in in a cave. When he turned the pris- Luxembourg, while Sgt. Zach Phil- Tarpon Springs’ African-American oners over to authorities, he received lips was awarded the Distinguished legacy is largely ignored by the Lead- a “receipt for four Japs.” Lt. John Flying Cross in the African and er. Occasionally, columns informed Corbin left the University of Tampa Mediterranean campaigns. First Lt. locals, “Local Negroes Recently to enlist in the Army Air Corps. He John Nicholson, a P-47 Thunderbolt Called In Army Draft.” “First Negro pilot with the 324th Fighter Group Girl Leaves for WAAC Training in 55 “Ten Tarponites Listed in Draft Call,” Leader, received five oak clusters and a Dis- Iowa,” the paper reported in 1943. December 25, 1942; “Tarpon Soldier Loses Life 56 in African Fighting,” Leader, 14 May 1943; Sgt. tinguished Flying Cross. In late 1943, 59 African Americans R.D. Sanders, Prisoner of War, Dies,” Leader, from Tarpon Springs were serving February 23, 1945; “1st Sgt. J.A. Lang Awarded 56 “Police Chief With Navy Seabees,” Leader, Soldier’s Medal for Heroism,” Leader, April 27, March 5, 1943; C.P.O. Gnann Has Receipt For in the armed forces. But Danny Mae 1945; “T-Sgt. Sidney Littell Gets Bronze Star,” and Four Japs,” Leader, June 15, 1945. See also “Law- Singleton’s story was exceptional. “S-Sgt. Paul Moltere Awarded Bronze Star,” Leader, rence Shove In Italy, Regiment Had Key Role in April 27, 1945; “Lt. John Nicholson Bails Out Push Thru Gothic,” Leader, March 2, 194; “Maj. More questions than answers pre- When Ack-Ack Gets Plane,” Leader, April 6, 1945; Arthur Ball Awarded Bronze Star Medal,” Leader, “Robert Graham Survives Bombing on Carrier 23 February 1945: Sgt. Zach Phillips Awarded Leader, February 23, 1945. Hancock,” Leader, August 24, 1945; “Sgt. George DFC,” Leader, February 9, 1945; “News Release 57 “Tarpon High Graduate Becomes Briga- E. Klimis, Liberated Prisoner,” Leader, May 18, Made on Activities of Lieutenant Bernard Moun- dier General,” Leader, August 14, 1942; “Former 1945; “Alan D. Roberts Is Killed in Pacific Action,” tain”; “Lt. John W. Lyons, 12th Air Force,” Leader, Tarponite Promoted to Major General,” Leader, Leader, February 5, 1945. June 22, 1945; “First Lieutenant John Nicholson,” May 14, 1943.

67 World War II: The Home-Front War vail. Did blacks leave home in search Florida’s most powerful Democrats, Have a Word For Liberation: It’s Zito,” of better paying defense jobs in the including the governor and attorney ran an AP headline. “The Dodeca- North? Did African-American vet- general, vowed to contest the court nesians,” George Frantzis wrote elo- erans and workers feel emboldened decision.58 quently, “with their brothers of free by the war’s rhetoric and change? Greece, fought side by side so that Many historians have argued that V-E Day the freedom of these islands might be the modern civil rights movement On May 8, 1945, Germany formally won after 416 years of enslavement began during the war. In 1940-41, surrendered to the Allies. Residents and subjugation.” The inhabitants of Pinellas County black leaders won a of Tarpon Springs, as elsewhere, the Dodecanese Islands, once again, 60 pivotal civil rights case. The NAACP greeted V-E Day (Victory in Europe became Greek citizens in 1947. represented black teachers, who were Day) quietly, with the somber real- represented by Thurgood Marshall. ization that victory was incomplete V-J Day: The ruling forced Pinellas County to without the defeat of Japan. Flags The Happiest Day Ever pay qualified black teachers a salary remained at half-staff in honor of On August 14, 1945, news of Japan’s equal to comparable white teachers. President Roosevelt, who had died surrender arrived around 7 o’clock Prior to the ruling, black teachers the previous month. All the city’s li- Tuesday evening. Moments after made significantly less than their quor stores were closed. The Leader the radio announcement, Fire Chief white counterparts. Still, the closest observed, “Quiet hung over the city Marvin Walker sounded the town’s high school for African-American as the echoing of silence of guns over fire whistle. For extra measure, the Tarponites was Clearwater. The U.S. G e r m any.” 59 alarm lasted ten full minutes. “Many Supreme Court ruled unconstitu- motorists started their car horns tional the South’s White Primary One week later, the last German gar- tooting,” the Leader reported, “and in the landmark Smith v. Allwright risons stationed in the Dodecanese many others to add still more clamor (1944) decision. Prior to the ruling, Islands surrendered. “The Greeks and din to the occasion, tied tubs, Florida’s Democratic Party refused to 58 “Local Negroes,” Leader, December 25, 1942; cans, and boilers to the back of their allow African-Americans member- “First Negro Girl Leaves for WAAC,” Leader, automobiles...Many firecrackers were ship, and more significantly, the right March 5, 1943; “Tarpon Springs Has 522 Men and Women in Armed Forces,” Leader, November 5, heard, and as darkness came, sky- to vote in the all-important primary. 1943;“Gary R. Mormino, “GI Joe Meets Jim Crow,” rockets and Roman candles put in Statewide, membership in NAACP Florida Historical Quarterly 74 (July 1994): 23-42. chapters dramatically increased. 59 “V-E Day Observed Quietly,” Leader, May 60 “The Greeks Have a Word For It,” St. Peters- 11, 1945. burg Times, November 19, 1944; Frantzis, 186-89.

68 Celebrating Community: Tarpon Springs, Relections on 125 Years

Tarpon Springs was no exception. skilled workers who preferred to make How does one measure change over up ground for lost years.62 such vast terrain? Most significantly, the loss of life, tragic on an individual The war acted as an unofficial pass- and communal level, was relatively ing of the generations. Obituaries and mercifully light. A city of 3,500 of the first generation of Greek im- residents in 1940, Tarpon Springs had migrants became a familiar news- grown to 4,727 by 1945. The city lost paper story during the war, “George eight men during the war.. The city P. Kalamakis, pioneer among the and nation, moreover, escaped bomb- Greek residents, passed away.” Nick ing and military occupation during Kalanpedes, a tailor; Mike Tes- the war. In contrast, Greece suffered traploses, an 82-year-old former 300,000 deaths from starvation be- sponger; and Nick Karavokinos, a tween 1941 and 1943. Historians es- sponger and World War I veteran, timate total Greek losses somewhere also died. Demosthenes Alissan- between 600,000 and 1,000,000. dratos, a merchant had arrived in St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Cathedral after the war. State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory Tragically, the violence did not end 1905 and died in 1943, the same (floridamemory.com/items/show/65959). when German and Italian troops sur- day as another pioneer, Mike Ka- rendered. Old wounds and divisions lamaris, a 70-year-old diver passed resurfaced, and a terrible civil war away. Other headlines tell similar their appearance to illuminate the fought among Communist, Monar- stories: “Café Operator Succumbs sky.” It was the happiest day, collec- chist, Liberal and American-British Suddenly,” “Aged Greek Meat Shop tively and spontaneously, in the his- backed nationalists. When Constan- Operator Dies,” “Aristedes Kota- tory of Tarpon Springs.61 tine and Leroy came marching home kis, Sponge Operator Many Years, An Accounting to Tarpon Springs, they returned to Dies,” and “Mike John Klimis, Resi- a city and country where optimism dent 35 Years, Dies.”63 The war years shook the foundations and confidence underscored real and of every American community, and 62 “Greek Premier Says Many Still Starving,” meaningful progress. Millions of vet- Leader, July 24, 1942. 61 “Joyous Demonstrations Follow Announce- erans took advantage of a generous 63 “George Kalamakis, Pioneer Greek,” Leader, ment of End of War in the Pacific,” Leader, August G.I. Bill, but well-paying jobs awaited November 6, 1942;”Nick Kalanpedes Dies,” Lead- 17, 1945. er, July 13, 1945; “D. Alissandratos Succumbs,”

69 World War II: The Home-Front War

The war was fought by young men. pride at being Greek. For the first set Hills, a sub- When these veterans returned, time, many of them met other sons of division about they became the new leaders. For Greek immigrants. They understood a mile west of the Greek community, the war was the special bond and they took pride downtown, was fought by the sons of immigrants. in hearing that one of the great aces struggling. The

They returned more American than of the war was a Greek-born Ameri- City of Tarpon Robert Gause, Greek. Unlike their fathers and can pilot, Steve Pisanos. Most impor- Springs owned suirvivor of tantly, the war reinforced the idea 200 lots in the the sinking grandfathers, the young veterans ex- of the USS pressed little interest in returning to that they belonged here and that they subdivision, Indianoplis. Greece to live. They were more con- were as American as the great-great- so Mayor Fred cerned with getting married, starting grandsons of New England Yankees Howard and families, acquiring an education and and Southern cavaliers. If, before the officials unveiled a plan: The city buying a home than the civil war in war, many Americans still expressed offered a free lot to every Tarpon Greece or their mother’s homeland concerns about the desirability of Springs veteran who promised to village. The military had reinforced Italians, Jews, Slavs, and Greeks, such build a home within six months. At regimentation and Americanization. anxieties were largely dashed because least 35 veterans accepted the offer. Greek Americans ate regimented, of wartime sacrifices. When viewed “I don’t know of any other section in bland food, rarely saw a Greek Ortho- against the horrors of World War II— Tarpon Springs as pretty,” said Rob- dox chaplain, and more likely danced the German concentration camps, the ert L. Gause, a Navy veteran. Gause with American girls at USO halls in Japanese abuse of colonial subjects, recalled his time aboard the cruiser Missoula, Montana, and Charles- the Soviet purge of Gypsies and Ukrai- USS Indianapolis, the vessel that ton, South Carolina. Some married nians—American ethnic differences transported the atomic bomb to Tin- American girls, shocking their par- seemed unimportant. ian Island, only to be torpedoed later ents. But the war also reinforced their by a Japanese submarine in the last and “Aged Diver Passes Away,” Leader, May 7, In the quarter century after its de- days of the war. In the 1975 Stephen 1943; “Aged Greek Dies At County House,” Leader, December 25, 1942; “Café Operator Succumbs velopment, Sunset Hills had wit- Spielberg movie, Jaws, the plight Suddenly,” Leader, December 4, 1942; “Aged Greek nessed boom, bust, and war. During of the USS Indianapolis is revealed Meat Shop Operator Dies,” Leader, July 24, 1942; through the character portrayed by Nick Karavokinos Succumbs to Heart Attack,” the war, the U.S. Army had erected Leader, April 20, 1945; “Aristedes Kotakis,” Leader, a large tower and radar training Robert Shaw. The sinking of the Indi- April 27, 1945; “Mike John Klimis,” Leader, April camp in Sunset Hills. In 1946, Sun- anapolis resulted in the deaths of al- 20, 1945.

70 Celebrating Community: Tarpon Springs, Relections on 125 Years most 600 sailors, most of them dying Hollows, and Greektowns lost their Springs, Greeks succeeded in retain- because of shark attacks. This terrible energy and critical mass following ing their ethnic identity. The reasons tragedy explains why the ship captain World War II. By the 1960s, these for this are complicated. Located at in the movie hated sharks.64 once-vibrant ethnic colonies, many the edge of a sparsely populated area located in inner cities in the north until the postwar years—Pasco and Consequences and Midwest, were largely aban- Hernando counties numbered a total Across America, Little Italies, Hunky doned. Largely impoverished African of 20,000 inhabitants in 1945—Tar- Americans and Latinos succeeded pon Springs and its Greek enclave 64 “Radar Training Camp in Sunset Hills Closed,” Leader, June 28, 1944; “Free Lots Project Italians, Jews, and Greeks. In Tarpon did not resemble the more traditional for Veterans,” Tampa Daily Times, June 17, 1950. northern and Midwestern immigrant communities. Greek immigrants in Tarpon Springs had labored in an industry that helped reinforce and define a sense of Greekness. In no other American city had Greeks represented such a high percentage of a city’s inhabitants and dominated the ranks of an economic enterprise so critical as had the Greek immigrants in Tarpon Springs. By the postwar era, when the economic underpin- nings of sponging were threatened, Greek-Americans deftly began to invest in helping preserve—and some would argue reinvent—a Greek enclave that was built around the theme of a sponging industry that no longer existed. The popularity of Greek food only enhanced the tourist appeal of Tarpon Springs. Coffee house near the Sponge Docks, c. 1943. Photo courtesy of the Tarpon Springs Area Historical Society.

71 World War II: The Home-Front War

encountering more than Greek food. When visitors walked down Dodeca- nese Boulevard, they were having an ethnic experience.65

The sheer growth of Pinellas and Hill- sborough counties—by the 1970s the combined populations surpassed several million inhabitants—meant that not merely tourists were descending upon Tarpon Springs on weekends. Local newspapers printed many stories dealing with the sense of pride and loss as the older generation of Greeks were passing away. In 1964, Stavros Smirlis was still kneading dough, but recalled how six decades earlier Greek fishermen flocked to After the war: John M. Gonatos in his curio shop with Niki Vasilikis, who was the first Greek WAAC in 1942. his bakery to stock up on his signa- State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory (floridamemory.com/items/show/245154). c. 1946. ture hardtack, or how it took 15 days to heat up the old brick-lined ovens. Uninterrupted prosperity may be the construction and tourist booms in When Mary Miaoulis died, reporters greatest legacy of the war. Veterans the 1950s and 1960s. Tourists motor- noted that she came from a legend- returned home with new opportuni- ing down Highway 19 stopped to en- ary family of bakers, and how the ties. A grateful federal government joy the underwater wonderments of Greek-American Bakery’s baklava set provided cheap access to higher Weeki Wachee and the sensory and the gold standard. During the war, education or trade school, as well sensual delights of a Greek village she baked baklava to raise funds for as benefits for housing and medical on the Tarpon Springs waterfront. the Ladies Kalymnian Society to help care. Florida boomed after V-J Day, Dining in Greektown was more than Greek refugees. In 1971, an Orlando and Tarpon Springs benefited from simply eating; a new generation was 65 Gabaccia, 102-03.

72 Celebrating Community: Tarpon Springs, Relections on 125 Years

Sentinel reporter paid a visit to Laz- the establishment that the owners Monogram Company came to town aros Coffee House. He was not the erected a larger new restaurant in to film Sixteen Fathoms Deep. In the first. In 1937, a sociologist had inter- 1975 christened simply “Pappas.” The early 1950s, Twentieth Century Fox viewed patrons in that already venera- architectural critic of the St. Petersburg filmed Beneath the 12-Mile Reef. But ble institution. “No other recreational Times reviewed the 42,000 square-foot not even Hollywood glamour could institution,” he wrote, “occupies the structure. The restaurant employed save the sponging industry from new position of importance in the eyes of six salad makers to create the dish that threats. During the war years, Ameri- Greeks that the coffee house holds. World War I veteran and cook Louis can scientists successfully developed a These open-fronted cafes with their M. Pappamichalopoulos had created, synthetic sponge. Consumers eagerly sidewalk tables are sprinkled liber- adding his signature dollop of potato replaced the more expensive natural ally throughout the entire city and it salad to the dish. If the Pappas Greek sponges with cheaper vinyl and cellu- is to them that the Greek men come salad could not be found in any Ath- lose substitutes, along with new prod- for purposes of business and amuse- ens or Rhodes restaurant, American uct lines of dishcloths and washcloths. ment.” The two stories separated by tourists still expected potato in their What laboratories and factories failed almost a half century felt as they were Greek salad.67 to challenge, nature finished. In 1947, covering funerals for a passing age. one of the worst red tide outbreaks The reporter lamented that once Tar- Greek-American veterans who wished ever recorded scoured the sponge pon Springs boasted 15 coffee houses, to return to their old jobs sponging and beds and fishing banks of the Gulf. but that number had plunged to one. fishing found an industry flush with Frantzis described the atmosphere: Today, one can still enjoy Greek coffee profits and possibilities. Once again, “A whole forest of masts of the vessels at Lazaros.66 Hollywood’s magic touched Tarpon stood as tragic martyrs of the fury that Springs and romanticized the lives and passed and generated in the depths of Louis Pappas’ Riverfront Café, built of labors of Greek spongers. In 1947, the the Gulf...It was destruction and slow wood in 1925, became a must-stop for 67 “Pappas’ Restaurant: A Family Affair,” No- death of sea life and men.” He added, tourists. So many customers crowded vember 13, 1955;“Pappas New Restaurant Worth “And so the proud sponge fleet of 70 Wait,” St. Petersburg Times, October 9, 1975; 66 “Where the Greek Bread Comes From,” St. Jacquin Sanders, “Greece Gave the World its Salad, diving boats and 130 hook boats grad- Petersburg Times, October 25, 1964; “Old Methods But Pinellas Added the Potatoes,” St. Petersburg 68 Bake New Bread,” St. Petersburg Independent, ually and slowly dissolved.” Times, September 20, 1985; “Pappas,” St. Peters- November 29, 1967; “Mary Miaoulis, Baker, burg Times, October 9, 1975; “Pappas’ Offers Fine Philanthropist,” St. Petersburg Times, December Greek Cuisine,” St. Petersburg Times, September 29, 1986; David Wilkening, “Coffee Sweet, Coffee 21, 1979; “Tarpon Springs’ Dean of Dining,” St. 68 Frantzis, 203, 204; Snyder, 146-47; Stough- Bitter,” Orlando Sentinel, May 12, 1971; Lovejoy, Petersburg Times, May 12, 2009. ton, 102-03. 123-24. 73 World War II: The Home-Front War

World War II represented one of the Books and Articles: Rawlings, Charles. “The Dance of the Bends.” most dramatic chapters in the his- Bosworth, R. J. B. Mussolini’s Italy: Life Un- Saturday Evening Post. October 22, 1932: 1-11, 80-83. tory of an ethnic community and der the Fascist Dictatorship, 1915-1945. New York: Penguin Press, 2006. city. Having survived the tremors of Saloutos, Theodore. “Greeks.” Harvard Ency- immigration, war, and revolutions in Cohen, Lizabeth. Making a New Deal: In- clopedia of American Ethnic Groups. Edited by Stephan Thernstrom. Cambridge, MA: technology and commerce, Tarpon dustrial Workers in Chicago, 1919-1939. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1995 ed. Harvard University Press, 1980. 430-40. Springs faced profound challenges in the decades following the war. Frantzis, George. Strangers At Ithaca: The Sklar, Robert. Movie-Made America: A Cul- The poet Juvenal had once reminded Story of the Spongers of Tarpon Springs. St. tural History of American Movies. New York: Vintage Books, 1994 ed. Romans that luxury was more ruth- Petersburg, FL: Great Outdoors Assoc., 1962. Gabaccia, Donna. We Are What We Eat: less than war. Tarpon Springs had Ethnic Food and the Making of Americans. Smith, Denis Mack. Modern Italy: A Political survived poverty and war. Could it Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, History. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1997. survive hordes of tourists who were 1998. coming to a place that once was fa- Hartley, Howard. “The Greek Way: Florida’s Snyder, Robert E. “Gulf Coast Gold: The mous for sponging? Colorful Sponge Fishermen Doing Their Bit Natural Sponge.” Gulf Coast Historical Re- for Greece.” Collier’s Weekly. May 17, 1941: view 5. Spring 1990: 141-51. 18-19, 57. Stoughton, Gertrude K. Tarpon Springs, Lenthall, Bruce. Radio’s America: The Great Florida: The Early Years. Tarpon Springs: Depression and the Rise of Modern Mass Cul- Tarpon Springs Historical Society, 1975. ture. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Unpublished Papers: Lovejoy, Gordon Williams. “The Greeks of Fratus, Earl T. III. “At Home in Tarpon Tarpon Springs, Florida.” Master’s thesis, Springs During World War II.” May 2001. University of Florida, 29-38. University of South Florida.

Mormino, Gary R. “GI Joe Meets Jim Crow: Racial Violence and Reform in World War II Florida.” Florida Historical Quarterly. 74. (July 1994): 23-42.

Mormino, Gary R. Hillsborough County Goes to War: The Home Front, 1945-1950. Tampa: Tampa Bay History Center, 2001. Postcard c. 1949. Collection of the Tarpon Springs Cultural Center. 74 Celebrating Community: Tarpon Springs, Relections on 125 Years

About the Authors

Brent R. Weisman, Ph.D. Dr. Weisman is Professor and Chair of the Anthropology Department at the University of South Florida. He has also served as Archaeological Director, Conservation and Recreation Lands Archaeological Survey for the Florida Depart- ment of State. He received his master’s and Ph.D. from the University of Florida. Among the many professional papers and books published, lectures given, and classes taught, Dr. Weisman is the manager of the Weedon Island Preserve foundation AWIARE. His primary interests are integrating anthropology, history, and archaeology; public archaeology and cultural resource management, and historical archaeology.

Jeff Moates Mr. Moates earned a master’s degree in history and historical archaeology and a bachelor’s degree in anthropology from the University of West Florida. His research and professional interests include 19th century settlements along the Florida Gulf Coast, Florida’s maritime trade, and the development of historic working watercraft. He has worked in archaeology and related fields, as well as an underwater archaeologist with the Bureau of Archaeological Research in Tallahassee where he acted as administrator for Florida’s exploration and salvage contract program. As director of the West Central Regional Archaeology Center, he was museum curator at the Florida Maritime Museum in Cortez, a historic waterfront community located in Manatee County.

Ellen J. Uguccioni Ms. Uguccioni came to Florida in 1986. She holds a master’s degree in art and architectural history from the University of Missouri. She served the City of Coral Gables as the Historic Preservation Director. The city’s outstanding reputation for its historic preservation programming is considered to be largely due to Ms. Uguccioni’s efforts. After retiring in 2002, she became a consultant to other locations such as Melbourne, Boca Raton, Delray Beach and St. Lucie County. She has served four terms on the Florida National Register Review Board as the architectural historian member, and is a gubernatorial appointee to the Florida Historical Commission. Ms. Uguccioni has written or coauthored several books

75 including: The Biltmore Hotel—The Legacy Continues; Coral Gables, Miami’s Riviera, An Architectural Guidebook; and First Families in Residence: Life at the Florida Governor’s Mansion. She was awarded the Distinguished Service Award from the Florida Trust for Historic Preservation. She is a Trustee for the Florida Trust for Historic Preservation, advisor to Dade Heritage Trust, as well as a Lieutenant Colonel, Ret. USMCR.

R. Lynn Whitelaw Mr. Whitelaw was the founding director of the Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art at St. Petersburg College and held that position for 13 years. In February 2011, Mr. Whitelaw stepped down as director to become the first established curator at the museum in order to concentrate his efforts on the rapidly expanding collection. Mr. Whitelaw is a graduate of Florida State University with both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in the history and criticism of art. He worked at Hillsborough Community College for 15 years in teaching and administrative positions and in 1990 became curator of education at the Tampa Museum of Art before taking the position at the Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art in 1998.

Gary R. Mormino, Ph.D Dr. Mormino, the Frank E. Duckwall Professor of History at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg, is a prolific writer, author of a wide range of academic and popular books. Immigrants on the Hill (University of Illinois Press, 1986) won the Howard Marraro Prize as the outstanding book on Italian history. The Immigrant World of Ybor City (University of Illinois Press, 1987) received the Theodore Saloutos Prize for the outstanding book on ethnic-immigration history. In addition, two of his articles have received prizes for the best writing on Florida history. He has written for the St. Peters- burg/Tampa Bay Times, Orlando Sentinel, Miami Herald, and the Tampa Tribune. Almost two decades ago, Dr. Mormino began to research modern Florida. Land of Sunshine, State of Dreams: A Social History of Modern Florida was published in 2005 by the University Press of Florida. Readers have called it a seminal study in state history. In 2006, the Florida Historical Society awarded the book the Charlton Tebeau Prize. Dr. Mormino received his Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina and has taught at USF since 1977. In 2003 the Florida Humanities Council named him its first Humanist of the Year.