Silver Springs Park in Florida Has Been a Marvel for Centuries
In partnership with: Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services
Silver Springs is the largest limestone artesian spring formation in the world, with numerous arteries feeding groundwater into the Silver River. This natural wonder has attracted people for thousands of years. It’s also the site of Florida’s oldest commercial tourist attraction.
Adventurous travelers began visiting the springs in the 1820s, but it was the proliferation of steamship travel after the Civil War that rendered Silver Springs a mandatory stop on the “Grand Tour” of Florida.
Springing to Life
In the late 1870s, Hullam Jones and Phillip Morrell affixed a piece of glass to the bottom of a rowboat, forever changing how people could enjoy the springs. More visitor attractions followed, including Ross Allen’s Reptile Institute.
Connie Rumberger and her husband, Thom, worked at the Park in the 1950s, Connie as a secretary and Thom as a lecturer handling alligators, rattlesnakes and indigo snakes for the reptile show.
“The lecturers milked rattlesnakes and let the kids touch indigo snakes, in addition to giving a nature talk,” Connie recalls.
Other animals included monkeys, lemurs and hundreds of free-roaming peacocks.
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A Hollywood Backlot
Connie, worked at Silver Springs in the 1950s. Photo credit: Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services
Now 91, Connie remembers many movies and TV shows filmed at the springs. First used as a location for a Hollywood film in 1916, the springs became a popular location for several Tarzan movies filmed between the 1930s and the 1950s. During filming, Connie says Tarzan star Johnny Weissmuller lived on Ross Allen’s property.
The Creature from the Black Lagoon underwater scenes were filmed at Silver Springs and featured Ricou Browning, who would co-create Flipper and was Thom’s good friend in those years, Connie recalls.
“Silver Springs was always beautiful and a very special place,” Connie says. “At that time, it was the only visitor attraction from the Florida state line southward.”
When Disney World and SeaWorld opened in the 1970s, Silver Springs’ attendance began to decline, along with the resources to care for the attraction and its natural resources. In addition, population growth and development adversely affected the springs, resulting in overgrowth of brown algae from nitrates entering the water system.
See more: How Martin County, Florida, Transitioned From Pineapple Haven to Agritourism Hub
Protecting the Springs
In 2013 the state took over management of the Silver Springs attraction and merged it with Silver River State Park to create Silver Springs State Park.
Over the past 10 years, the Florida Park Service has focused on protecting the State Park, the more than 30 springs on the Silver River, and the cultural and natural resources and wildlife within the Park’s boundaries, according to Brooke Keck of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).
Florida DEP and Florida Park Service take pride in preserving Florida’s springs for generations to come, Keck says.
Some of the completed projects include the first wheelchair-accessible glass-bottom boat in the fleet; rehabilitation of Ross Allen Island; installation of a fully accessible boardwalk throughout the Park; a new wing for the Silver River Museum, where patrons can learn about Silver Springs’ colorful history and view exhibits relating to the geology and natural history of north central Florida; renovation of the Park entrance; and sewer connections for all facilities, which further protect water quality.
The springs and all of the state’s natural resources are vitally important to all sectors of Florida’s economy including agriculture. Florida’s farmers increasingly use a variety of innovative practices to protect and conserve water.
The 4,000-acre state park includes the springs as well as the five-mile Silver River surrounding the Sandhill Forest. Visitors can walk, hike, camp, paddle the river, tour the Silver River Museum and dine at two restaurants on property.
For more information about other tourism offerings throughout Florida, visit floridastateparks.org.