Mermaids at Weeki Wachee Springs State Park, 1974

Mermaids at Weeki Wachee Springs State Park, 1974

Weeki Wachee Mermaids

Weeki Wachee (Fla.)

Mermaids--Florida

Springs--Florida

Parks--Florida

Mermaids at Weeki Wachee Springs State Park in 1974. Weeki Wachee, located at 6131 Commercial Way in Spring Hill, Florida, is best known for its famous tourist attraction, Weeki Wachee Springs. Weeki Wachee Springs features performances by underwater mermaids, a glass-bottom boat ride, and other natural attractions. The springs are named after the Seminole words for "little spring" or "winding river." In 1946, former U.S. Navy member Newt Perry (1908-1987) began to develop a tourist attraction at Weeki Wachee. By the 1950s, Weeki Wachee was one of the top tourist stops in the United States. The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) purchased the site in 1959 and continued to expand. In 2008, Weeki Wachee was taken over by the state of Florida as a state park.

Original color photographs, 1974: Private Collection of Nancy Lynn Cepero.

ca. 1974-09

Cepero, Nancy Lynn

Digital reproduction of original color photographs, 1974.

Laura Cepero Collection, RICHES.

image/jpg

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3 color photographs

Still Image

Weeki Wachee Springs State Park, Spring Hill, Florida

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Copyright to this resource is held by Nancy Lynn Cepero and is provided here by RICHES of Central Florida for educational purposes only.

Cepero, Laura

"History of Weeki Wachee Springs." Weeki Wachee Springs State Park. http://weekiwachee.com/about-us/history-of-weeki-wachee-springs.html.

Pelland, Maryan, and Dan Pelland. Weeki Wachee Springs. Charleston, SC: Arcadia, 2005.

Vickers, Lu, and Bonnie Georgiadis. Weeki Wachee Mermaids: Thirty Years of Underwater Photography. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2012.