The City of Tarpon Springs is approximately 16 square miles including waterways and is located on the west central coast of Florida. Tarpon Springs has a diverse population of approximately 24,429.

With a series of bayous feeding into the Gulf of Mexico, this region first attracted attention as a place for winter homes in about 1876. Some of the newly arrived visitors spotted Tarpons jumping out of the waters and so named the location Tarpon Springs. The first Greek immigrants arrived to this city during the 1880s, when they were hired to work as divers in the growing sponge harvesting industry. In 1905, John Cocoris introduced the technique of sponge diving to Tarpon Springs. Cocoris recruited Greek sponge divers from the Dodecanese Islands; Kalymnos, Symi and Halki and by the 1930's, which lead to a very productive sponge industry that generated millions of dollars a year. The 1953 film Beneath the 12-Mile Reef, depicting sponge diving, takes place and was filmed in Tarpon Springs. For more on the history of the City of Tarpon Springs from Wikipedia.