The Springs Of Florida

Featuring the state’s finest cold springs, Touring the Springs of Florida features full-color photos of each site and in-depth descriptions of the springs and surrounding areas. Whether you’re tubing, paddling, hiking, diving, or sightseeing, detailed maps, GPS coordinates, and thorough driving directions lead you every step of the way.

"Dive into the colorful past of Florida's natural wonders! In this visual tour of the state's five largest springs, collector-extraordinaire Tim Hollis brings together postcards, advertisements, brochures, signs, flyers, and souvenirs from the early days of these popular roadside attractions. Since tourists first started visiting the Sunshine State, they were drawn to these liquid gems: Silver Springs, Wakulla Springs, Rainbow Springs, Weeki Wachee Spring, and Homosassa Springs. Today the springs are protected as state parks and continue to lure tourists and nature lovers alike. Sit back and enjoy the eye-catching scenes of the mermaids, alligators, underwater mountains, and glass bottom and submarine boats that helped these unique parts of the natural landscape become must-see destinations"--

The deepest and largest known springs in the world are found here in Florida. The photographs are the result of hundreds of hours under water. This new edition is completely updated to serve as a guide to Florida's many spring parks and their inhabitants. Vital for canoeists, kayakers, divers, snorkelers, and visitors.

A colorful look at a forgotten era of Florida tourism Filled with rare photographs, vintage postcards and advertisements, and fascinating writing from over 100 years ago, Florida's Healing Waters spotlights a little-known time in Florida history when tourists poured into the state in search of good health. Rick Kilby explores the Victorian belief that water caused healing and rehabilitation, tracing the history of "taking the waters" from its origins in the era of Enlightenment. Nineteenth-century Americans traveled from afar to bathe in the outdoors and soak up the warm climate of Florida. Here, with more than 1,000 freshwater springs, 1,300 miles of coastline, and 30,000 lakes, water was an abundant resource. Through the wealth of images in this book, Kilby shows how Florida's natural wonders were promoted and developed as restorative destinations for America's emerging upper class. The rapid growth in tourism infrastructure that began during the Gilded Age lasted well into the twentieth century, and Kilby explains how these now-lost resorts helped boost the economy of modern Florida. Today, these splendid health spas and elaborate bathing facilities have been lost, replaced by recreational amenities for a culture more about sun and fun than physical renewal. In this book, Kilby emphasizes the value of honoring and preserving the natural features of the state in the face of continual development. He reminds us that Florida's water is still a life-giving treasure.

* Florida has the deepest & largest known springs in the world * A guided tour of these beautiful environments * Many rare underwater photographs, many of unique underwater species * Detailed descriptions & maps of Florida's major spring parks, including Silver Springs, Weeki Wachee & Wakulla Springs. DOUG STAMM has ventured camera in hand to the depths of lakes & oceans, joined Cousteau's team beneath winter ice in the Mississippi River, & traveled to the rain forests of the Amazon headwaters. His photographs have illustrated many articles & books. "This book is a perceptive & beautifully illustrated treatment of Florida's most spectacular natural asset - our incomparable springs & the fascinating biologic communities that inhabit them."--Dr. Archie Carr, University of Florida.

This tale of two deep springs in Florida that began as sinkholes about 13,000 years ago and the story of the precious water they contained, reveals the recent and prehistoric story of what is now the Sunshine State and the importance of its natural resources to its people. The mineral-charged spring water sustained Florida's earliest human populations--roaming hunter-gatherers who discovered the springs about 10,000 years ago and revisited them for thousands of years--in dry times and preserved their bones and artifacts for thousands of years. These dramatic tales based on the history of Florida's first people offer new perspectives on Florida's long history. The second time-period is recent and factual. Often outrageously stranger than fiction, it follows recent events int he history of the springs - the remarkable people who dived in the deep water-filled holes and put together the picture of human life-ways 10,000 years ago at the end of the Pleistocene Era. DNA analysis by world renown Svante Paabo revealed that these first Floridians were unrelated to the Native Americans living in North America today

A timely, illustrated assessment of the history and current plight of Florida's over 1000 artesian springs.

Many names of Florida places evoke fantastic images: Caloosahatchee, Okeechobee, Loxahatchee, Everglades, Miami—to mention only a few. Did you know that Florida's places were often named to honor prominent local citizens such as postmasters, landowners, or war heroes? Jacksonville, for example, was named for Florida's first American governor, Andrew Jackson. Later the state's interest in attracting new residents produced names that suggested pleasant places to live, such as Belle Glade and Avon-by-the-Sea. From Alachua (from the Seminole for "jug") to Zolfo Springs (from the Italian for "sulphur"), Florida Place Names delights and educates with a rich and varied offering of Florida lore.

The deepest and largest known springs in the world are found here. The photographs are the result of hundreds of hours under water. This new edition is completely updated to serve as a guide to Florida's many spring parks and their inhabitants. Vital for canoeists, kayakers, divers, snorkelers, and visitors.