Browse Items (101 total)

A crew member finishes the grueling job of cleaning sponges on February 11, 1975. Sponges, which are simple animal organisms, must be cleaned of their skin, internal matter, and any stones or sand that have adhered to them. Crew members repeatedly…

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…

Costas Tsourakis loading strings of sponges into the back of a truck during the 1940s. Tsourakis arrived from Greece in 1905. In addition to working with sponges, he made charcoal for the sponge boats at a lot on Athens and Cedar Streets.

The crew of the tourist boat St. Nicholas III poses for a photograph. Standing on the dock are Captain Michael J. Billiris, Angelo V. Billiris, unidentified diver; on the boat are George M. Billiris, Theodore J. Billiris, unidentified, Ted M.…

A large crowd gathers inside Teddy’s Pavilion for a festive occasion at Sunset Beach in the 1940s. George Pappas stands in the left foreground.

Aerial view of the demolition of the Sponge Exchange in 1981. The Sponge Exchange was sold to new private owners who wanted to create a shopping complex. Although many members of the Greek community and preservationists from the Florida Department of…

Dr. Themistocles J. Diamandis, known as Dr. D, was a beloved doctor in Tarpon Springs for 47 years before he retired. After attending medical school at the University of Miami, he returned to Tarpon Springs to work in the hospital where he was born…

Duchess Giallourakis Arfaras and Michel Arfaras enjoy the beach on their honeymoon in 1951. The Giallourakis family was involved in the sponge industry, and it was through them that Duchess was introduced to her future husband, Tunisian Greek sponge…

This early image of a sponge packing house is associated with the name Trefon Constantinou. Sponge merchants are central to domestic and international distribution. Many belong to families that have worked in every aspect of the business for…

Greek prime minister Eleftherios Venizelos (1864–1936) delivers a speech at Anclote Lighthouse on January 30, 1922. One of the most respected Greek statesmen of the 20th century, Venizelos led the Greek national liberation movement and promoted…