Iotrochota birotulata or green finger sponges), grass sponges (vase sponges), and yellow sponges. This postcard was part of a series of postcards depicting scenes in Tarpon Springs, Florida. Sponge harvesting in Tarpon Springs began in 1852 when Walter Lowe sailed to Anclote Key to secure cargo containing sponges. The Anclote and Rock Island Sponge Company was formed by John Cheyney in 1891, with offices in Tarpon Springs and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Cheyney also founded the Tarpon Springs Sponge Exchange, along with Ernest R. Meres, in 1907. Despite the Florida land bust of the 1920s and the Great Depression, the sponge industry continued to thrive until 1938, when a blight infested the sponge beds. Instead, the city turned to tourism, capitalizing on its rich Greek culture.

This postcard is part of a collection of postcards kept by Lucile Campbell, a schoolteacher in Sanford, Florida, for 30 years. In 1931, she took advantage of a special rate for teachers and sailed to Europe, where she traveled for several months and is thought to have acquired many of these postcards. During the 1940-1941 school year, Campbell taught at Sanford Grammar School. Before her retirement in 1970, she taught at many other area schools, including the Oviedo School, Westside Grammar School, and Pinecrest Elementary School. Campbell used these postcards as aids in her classrooms to teach advanced subjects, such as Shakespearean drama. The collection, along with her other teaching aids, papers, and photographs, was later found at Sanford Grammar School after it became the University of Central Florida's Public History Center. Campbell's postcard collection and photographs provide insight into the life of a respected Florida educator.]]>
UCF Public History Center, Sanford, Florida.]]> UCF Public History Center, Sanford, Florida.]]> Lucile Campbell Collection, Student Museum and UCF Public History Center Collection, Seminole County Collection, RICHES of Central Florida.]]> Adobe Acrobat Reader]]> UCF Public History Center and is provided here by RICHES of Central Florida for educational purposes only.]]>