The sponge business has been part of the history here as early as the late 1880's when sponge fisherman brought their sponges from Key West to cure on the beaches in the area.
In 1889, John Cheney, a Philadelphia banker, started building warehouses to make it a leading market. A couple of divers from Greece discovered the local wealth of thousands of sponges in the local waters.
In 1905, with a group of Greek divers working for Cheney, the first boat with mechanized equipment set sail for deeper waters of the Gulf of Mexico. News of the plentiful sponges brought immigrants from Greece to not only sponge but run shops in the town.
Even today, you can see the many boats (many named after Greek Orthodox saints) manned by hardworking spongers and shops filled with all variety of sponges.