Browse Items (28 total)

Evelyn Miaoulis Billirakis and Kalliope Miaoulis Harvard sitting on the back of a bike driven by their brother Nicholas Miaoulis in the 1940s. They are making a stop at the Greek American bakery on today’s Pinellas Avenue, which was owned and…

Mass tourism bloomed after World War I as the middle class expanded. As a result, tourism based on the sponge industry and Greek culture developed early in Tarpon Springs. This image shows a store selling sponges at 629 Dodecanese Boulevard in 1921.

In this view looking north from the Sponge Exchange to the boats lining the Sponge Docks, men examine enormous piles of strung sponges harvested on recent trips. When the photograph was taken in 1921, the old wooden buildings had been replaced with…

In 1921, dozens of Greek boats in the sponge fleet line the wooden docks where men work and an anchor lies. Along with the lone horse-drawn buggy are the Sponge Exchange jitney and cars that are probably owned by the more affluent sponge merchants.

Auctioneer and former diver Costas Klimantos accepts a bid from potential buyer George Smitzes at the Sponge Exchange on June 19, 1978. After a sale, the captain or owner is reimbursed for food and boat expenses, then each member of the team receives…

Nicholas Toth making glass retainer and leather rings for diving helmet, 5-10