Tarpon Springs

Tarpon Springs is a historic small city of 23,000 with an unusual mix of Greek culture, and Victorian and Floridian architecture. Incorporated in 1887, it is the oldest city in Pinellas County, Florida. Located on the Gulf of Mexico on the west coast of Florida, Tarpon Springs is north and west of the Tampa-St. Petersburg metropolitan area. The city is full of parks, bayous and brick streets, and boasts two distinct downtowns. The National Register of Historic Places lists downtown, which is a mix of antique shops, boutiques, galleries, and museums. The internationally renowned Sponge Docks is a traditional Greek sponge fishing enclave, settled in the 1800s, that has grown into a tourist mecca.

Called the Venice of the South, Tarpon Springs has been an arts destination since the early 1900s, when George Inness, the father of American landscape painting, made his home here; other artists, performers and arts enthusiasts soon followed. The 1920s witnessed a surge of arts and culture—the most notable being the floating barge concerts on Spring Bayou, featuring such performing groups as the Metropolitan Opera Touring Company. More recently, the Florida Orchestra performed on a barge at the same location. Tarpon Springs is perhaps most famous for its 100-year-old annual Epiphany celebration, involving Greek Orthodox young men diving for a cross that's thrown into Spring Bayou. Today the population is rapidly expanding; more and more businesses, families and retirees are discovering the magic of Tarpon Springs.

Visit the City of Tarpon Springs government web site