<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" version="2.0"><channel><title><![CDATA[Tarpon Heritage]]></title><description><![CDATA[Tarpon Magazine]]></description><link>https://www.tarponheritage.com/news</link><generator>RSS for Node</generator><lastBuildDate>Fri, 04 Sep 2026 12:04:47 GMT</lastBuildDate><atom:link href="https://www.tarponheritage.com/blog-feed.xml" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/><item><title><![CDATA[Who was Sisler Field Named for?]]></title><description><![CDATA[By Joe Marzo For three springs in the 1920s, the small sponge diving town of Tarpon Springs, Florida, traded its quiet winter routine for the crack of a bat and the buzz of major league baseball. From 1925 through 1927, the St. Louis Browns of the American League made Tarpon Springs their spring training home, and in doing so left behind a piece of local history that still bears the name of one of the greatest players of the era: George Sisler. A Team Looking for a Home Before settling in...]]></description><link>https://www.tarponheritage.com/post/who-was-sisler-field-named-for</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a6ba42f7882b714f0d80f0c</guid><pubDate>Thu, 30 Jul 2026 19:24:06 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/e65a88_1db0eb65a8b94baf9d524b691e638d84~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Joe Marzo</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[How Tarpon Springs Got its Name]]></title><description><![CDATA[By Joe Marzo Tucked along the Anclote River on Florida's Gulf Coast, Tarpon Springs is known today as the "Sponge Capital of the World" and home to one of the largest Greek American communities in the country. But long before sponge boats and Epiphany celebrations defined the city, it was a handful of pioneer families and a leaping silver fish that gave the town its name. A Teenage Girl's Suggestion The most widely told origin story centers on a teenager named Mary Ormond. In 1876, A. W....]]></description><link>https://www.tarponheritage.com/post/how-tarpon-springs-got-its-name</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a6ba0105cf1d22b8d731ded</guid><pubDate>Thu, 30 Jul 2026 19:08:12 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/e65a88_d8c00055566a4221a54cd583c7ea4816~mv2.jpeg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Joe Marzo</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[A Medical Hero Called Tarpon Home: Dr. Mary Jane Safford]]></title><description><![CDATA[By Joe Marzo You've seen the street that bears the Safford name, and perhaps some of you have been to the Safford House Museum in town. But what you probably don't know is that Dr. Mary Jane Safford is quite possibly the most interesting woman most people have never heard of. She walked these streets. She treated patients here, white and black alike, charging those who could pay and seeing the rest for free. She may well have saved Tarpon Springs from the yellow fever epidemic that ravaged...]]></description><link>https://www.tarponheritage.com/post/a-medical-hero-called-tarpon-home-dr-mary-jane-safford</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a68fbc426f7c5279f688faf</guid><pubDate>Tue, 28 Jul 2026 19:07:29 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/e65a88_22378002be554c25a99783148708da59~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_941,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Joe Marzo</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Great Gulf Divorce: How Pinellas Walked Out on Hillsborough in 1912]]></title><description><![CDATA[By Joe Marzo It took a two day buggy ride to reach the in laws, the bills kept piling up, and not one of those bills ever seemed to come back as a paved road. By the early 1910s, the residents of the Pinellas Peninsula had had enough. After roughly seventy seven years of marriage to Hillsborough County, they wanted out, and they wanted the house, the kids, and the silverware too. This is the story of how a Florida peninsula filed for divorce, won, and then promptly started another fight with...]]></description><link>https://www.tarponheritage.com/post/the-great-gulf-divorce-how-pinellas-walked-out-on-hillsborough-in-1912</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69f6a0167b1c42fb24f6a5a9</guid><pubDate>Sun, 03 May 2026 12:24:10 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/e65a88_22a704339046427ab37391a8db8a6a64~mv2.avif/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Joe Marzo</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Sponge Wars of 1907: When Tarpon Springs Became the Center of a Gulf Coast Conflict]]></title><description><![CDATA[By Joe Marzo At the beginning of the twentieth century, Tarpon Springs was still searching for its place along Florida’s Gulf Coast. It was a quiet settlement, built around the bayou and the surrounding waters, with no defining industry strong enough to secure its future. That would soon change. But the transformation would not come quietly, and it would not come without conflict. Before Tarpon Springs rose to prominence, the sponge trade in Florida was already well established further south....]]></description><link>https://www.tarponheritage.com/post/the-sponge-wars-of-1907-when-tarpon-springs-became-the-center-of-a-gulf-coast-conflict</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69c9723d495b613043542b6e</guid><pubDate>Sun, 29 Mar 2026 18:44:25 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/e65a88_df22697d809244aaa8cdc9e9f3a18f52~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_600,h_802,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Joe Marzo</dc:creator></item></channel></rss>