Browse Items (112 total)

Family and friends enjoy the evening breezes on the porch in August 1958. The woman on the left with a child on her lap is Sophie Pavlos Tsongranis, the wife of Father George Tsongranis. On the right, Sylvia Billiris sits behind the man at right…

During the filming of Beneath the 12-Mile Reef (1953), the sponge boat Eleni was painted to look as though it had been burned by the rival Key West Conch sponge fishermen. After the filming ended, the boat was restored to its original condition.…

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…

Actor Lloyd Bridges poses with townspeople at the Sponge Docks during the filming of 16 Fathoms Deep (1948) in Tarpon Springs. During the late 1940s and early 1950s, both this film and Beneath the 12-Mile Reef (1953) created a romantic aura around…

A Greek school group dressed for a Greek cultural celebration poses on the Sponge Docks during the 1940s. The two sponge divers to the left behind them are Emmanuel Mehas and John Maillis. The front row is unidentified Greek school teacher,…

There is a birthday party in progress among a group of friends and neighbors on Mill Street near Athens Street in the 1940s. Maria Afanason, Sevasti Georgiadis, Nikki Ergas holding Michael Kouremetis, Maria Fotakis, Maria Karavokiros holding Nancy…

The Tsalichis family enjoys a picnic on Kathara Deftera/Καθαρά Δευτέρα or Clean Monday in the 1941. Anna Karagiannis Kotis looks surprised and perplexed because she has just been handed a live rabbit by her nephew Michael Tsalichis to her left.…

Frances, Nellie, and Magdaline Peronis stroll with a friend around Spring Bayou on a beautiful spring day in the 1940s. Nellie and Magdaline married Tiliakos brothers who were shrimp boat builders in Fernandina Beach and Frances moved to Indiana —but…

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.

The family of a sponge fisherman poses for a photograph in front of their home on November 16, 1936. Although the talented Burgert Brothers photographers from Tampa found intriguing subjects in Tarpon Springs, they did not always record the names of…