Silver Springs State Park (2/17/2025)

Monday, February 17, 2025 (continued)

Well! Because it was a holiday (Presidents' Day), the famous glass bottom boat tours were sold out at Silver Springs State Park in Silver Springs, FL.

Silver Springs State Park entrance; people had been coming
to see the springs since at least 1820 when Florida became
a state, but in 1924 it was Florida’s first bona fide attraction

A glass bottom boat at the dock; the first such boat was
created in the 1870s when Hullam Jones and Phillip
Morrell fixed a piece of glass to the bottom of a rowboat

The spring is somewhere in the middle of the lagoon

The clear water maintains a temperature of 72-degrees F,
enjoyed by these Ictalurus punctatus/Channel Catfish

The glass bottom boats are now electric and
provide a 30-minute tour

Statue (by Bernice West) of Osceola

The plaque states: "October 23, 1834, the Seminole Indians met in council at these springs to discuss demands of the United States for their removal to the West. Osceola, then an obscure sub-chief, swayed the council with his oratory and set the Indians against removal. This was the real beginning of the Great Seminole War of 1835-42, in which, as head War-Chief, Osceola became an important Indian military genius and strategist of American history. He was captured through deception and died at Fort Moultrie, Charleston, January 30, 1838."

Starting in the 1930s, twenty movies were
filmed at Silver Springs, including
Creature from the Black Lagoon

One of many statues (most have been
left underwater) that were props
from the 1960s TV show I Spy