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Most know Bailey’s Bluff for its upscale,
high-end, subdivision. But for more than 50 years, the bluff
played a significant role in the local sponging industry.
Today,
driving along the nicely paved streets of the Bailey’s Bluff
subdivision, it’s hard to believe for nearly half a century this
small section of coastal land was the scene of considerable
activities, which played a significant role in the beginnings of
the Tarpon Springs sponging industry.
Traces of
this grand operation are scant, but its mark on our local
history is great.
The birth
of sponging along Pasco’s west coast can be traced to the year
1852, when one Walter Lowe went in the schooner Chestnut to
Anclote Keys, and, in several days, secured a cargo of sponges.
This catch
brought such large profits that other men soon embarked in the
new venture.
On
November 20, 1867, the bluff’s namesake, Peter Karr
Baillie, received title to the 22 acres of high prime
coastal land now known as Bailey’s Bluff - purchased from the
state of Florida.
Baillie
built a small home and established one of the first known
businesses in west Pasco, a mercantile business trading with
local fishermen, who visited the excellent Anclote fishery.
By the
mid-1870s, the waters off Bailey’s Bluff and Anclote became a
well known fishery to harvest the abundant sponges.
In 1890,
under ownership of Captain Charles Floyd of Jacksonville, the
crawls were moved from Anclote Keys to Bailey’s Bluff mainland,
and for the next 7-years Floyd retained ownership of this
successful enterprise.
In 1891,
our coastal sponging industry was met with entrepreneur John
King Cheyney’s newly established Anclote and Rock Island Sponge
Company.
Cheney’s
company created significant competition for the Bailey’s Bluff
crawls, and, on May 31, 1897, with $300 down and a bond for
title for an outstanding $300; Captain Charles Floyd sold the
bluff enterprise to local resident Samuel Baker. By 1899 there
were approximately 125 crawls located at Bailey’s Bluff, all
kept under the keen eyes of watchmen Samuel B. Baker and
Benjamin Baker.
In
November 1912, for $900, the Baker family sold their Bailey’s
Bluff property to young sponge house worker Joseph M. Blackburn.
In January
1956, the first unit of six in the upscale Bailey’s Bluff
subdivision was surveyed and platted into home lots. The natural
harbor of the bluff, now called Sleepy Lagoon, was dredged to
create a deep boating channel for easy access from these homes
to the Gulf waters. |
