̽����Ƶ

PJHR faculty affiliate Rina Bousalis, Ph.D., recently published a book called the "The Florida Sponge War: Conflict Between Key West and the Gulf Towns” that covers the overlooked history of sponge diving in Florida. This compelling account reveals how a battle over the sea shaped a community, an industry, and a legacy.

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the Florida sponge industry was booming – its waters attracting skilled Bahamian, Cuban, and Greek spongers to harvest the Gulf Coast’s natural treasure. From the shallow waters of Key West, where spongers used glass-bottom buckets and long hooks, to the deep-ocean dives of Tarpon Springs with heavy helmet suits, the quest for sponges created wealth, opportunity, and fierce competition.

When Greek divers introduced advanced deep-water techniques in 1905, Tarpon Springs quickly dominated the market, igniting tensions with Key West spongers over control of the lucrative trade. These escalating disputes – marked by sabotage, threats, and violent confrontations – became known as the Florida Sponge War.

Historian Rina Bousalis chronicles this overlooked but pivotal conflict in Florida’s history. Through a vivid, chronological narrative enriched with rare photographs and archival documents, she traces the industry’s rise, the cultural clashes, and the ultimate decline with the advent of the synthetic sponge.

��

��