Florida’s Sponge War: A Forgotten Chapter of Florida's Maritime History

A booming maritime industry, waves of population inflow and an intense struggle for economic survival converged along Florida’s Gulf Coast at the turn of the twentieth century, giving rise to what became known as the Florida Sponge War. In her recent book, The Florida Sponge War: Conflict Between Key West and the Gulf Towns, Rina Bousalis, Ph.D., historian and associate professor in the College of Education’s Department of Curriculum and Instruction, brings this largely overlooked episode into focus. Bousalis outlines how competition beneath the waves reshaped communities and the livelihoods above them.

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Florida’s sponge industry drew skilled spongers from the Bahamas, Cuba and Greece. In Key West, harvesting shallow-water techniques used glass-bottom buckets and long hooks. Farther north in Tarpon Springs, Greek divers introduced deep-sea diving technology in 1905, employing heavy helmet suits that allowed access to previously unreachable sponge beds.

This innovation transformed the industry almost overnight. Tarpon Springs surged ahead as the dominant producer, fueling bitterness among Key West spongers who saw their economic footing threatened. What followed was a period of escalating conflict marked by sabotage, intimidation and aggressive encounters—an era remembered as the Florida Sponge War.

Bousalis traces the conflict through a chronological narrative, capturing both the economic stakes and the tensions embedded within the industry. Drawing on archival documents and rare photographs, her work situates the sponge trade within broader themes of population inflow, labor and technological change, while also documenting the industry’s eventual decline following the introduction of synthetic sponges.