Tarpon Springs

Tarpon Springs
	County and state location
Basic data
Foundation :	1876
State :	United States
State :	Florida
County :	Pinellas County
Coordinates :	28 ° 9 ′ N , 82 ° 45 ′ W Coordinates: 28 ° 9 ′ N , 82 ° 45 ′ W
Time zone :	Eastern ( UTC − 5 / −4 )
Residents :	23,484 (as of 2010)
Population density :	990.9 inhabitants per km 2
Area :	43.8 km 2 (approx. 17 mi 2 ) of; which 23.7 km 2 (approx. 9 mi 2 ) is land
Height :	7 m
Postcodes :	34688, 34689
Area code :	+1 727
FIPS :	12-71150
GNIS ID :	0292048
Website :	www.ctsfl.us
Mayor :	Chris Alahouzos

Tarpon Springs is a city in Pinellas County in the US state of Florida with 23,484 inhabitants (as of 2010).

geography

Tarpon Springs is located at the confluence of the Anclote River with the Gulf of Mexico on Florida's west coast. The city is about 40 km northwest of Tampa .

history

In 1876 the first settlers settled in what is now the city and in 1887 the City of Tarpon Springs was officially founded. The Orange Belt Railway, completed in 1888, once ran through Tarpon Springs from Sanford to Saint Petersburg . After several takeovers, the line was shut down when the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad was founded in 1967.

The commercial breeding of bath sponges began in 1890 , which is also the reason for the high proportion of Greek-born residents: the entrepreneur John Cocoris recruited sponge divers from Greece, especially from the Dodecanese islands and Halkidiki .

In 1938 most of the sponges fell victim to disease. In 1947, an algae plague put an end to sponge farming. Today tourism is the city's most important industry.

1953, Tarpon Springs venue and location of the film The Höllenriff ( Beneath the 12-Mile Reef , directed by Robert D. Webb)

Demographic data

According to the 2010 census, the 23,484 inhabitants at that time were distributed over 12,433 households. The population density was 990.9 inh / km². 88.1% of the population identified themselves as whites , 6.4% as African American , 0.3% as Indians and 1.4% as Asian Americans . 1.7% said they belonged to another ethnic group and 2.1% to several ethnic groups. 7.3% of the population were Hispanics or Latinos .

In 2010 children under the age of 18 lived in 23.8% of all households and persons aged 65 or over lived in 39.0% of all households. 62.1% of the households were family households (consisting of married couples with or without offspring or one parent with offspring). The average household size was 2.25 people and the average family size was 2.81 people.

20.5% of the population were younger than 20 years, 18.2% were 20 to 39 years old, 29.4% were 40 to 59 years old, and 32.0% were at least 60 years old. The mean age was 48 years. 48.0% of the population were male and 52.0% were female.

The median annual income was $ 44,826, with 14.3% of the population living below the poverty line.

In 2000, English was the mother tongue of 84.99% of the population, 8.87% spoke Greek and 6.14% had another mother tongue. Tarpon Springs has the highest percentage of Greek-born residents in the United States. 9.3 percent of the residents describe themselves as Greeks .

Attractions

The following properties are listed on the National Register of Historic Places :

traffic

US Highway 19 ( SR 55 ) and Florida State Road 595 run through the city . The Tampa airport is about 30 km away.

crime

The crime rate in 2010 was 309 points (US average: 266 points) in the average range. There was one murder, four rapes, 40 robberies, 113 assaults, 146 break-ins, 473 thefts and 27 car thefts.