Framed or unframed, desk size to sofa size, printed by us in Arizona and Alabama since 2007. Explore now.
Shorpy is funded by you. Patreon contributors get an ad-free experience.
Learn more.
Florida circa 1904. "DeLeon Springs near DeLand." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.
I lived next to DeLeon Springs from 1958 to 1963. My grandmother worked in the gift shop, next to the 30 foot water wheel. I spent many happy days swimming in the springs and in the river. What was fun was dropping bread in the crystal clear river and watching the fish grab the food.
At the time there was an abandon, two story, wood hotel at the springs. My grandmother told me it closed down when a guest had fallen through the floor because the wood was so rotted. It was all boarded up to keep people out, especially little boys.
While the visitors were swimming, workers would attach two foot long "Visit DeLeon Springs" signs to the bumpers of the cars. My dad made sure the workers knew not to put a sign on our car.
At the spring's parking area were peacocks, a free roving Emu and two Ostriches in a fenced in area.
I sure would like to go there and have some lemonade with Aunt T.
and they have a mill there where they grind flour and you can sit at these big tables and make your own pancakes. I can't recall if it was there that the big manatee would come in the winter or nearby Blue Springs, but I spent many happy times there in my youth swimming with the sunfish and being able to see all the way to the sandy bottom.
An idyllic scene with the Spanish Moss, until you realize that the location by the pond in Florida probably has insects the size of flying tomatoes as well.
In that this was taken when most 'Gators were ending up as luggage, it was probably perfectly safe to swim in this pond -- or reach, or slough or whatever. Except for the moccasins, rattlers, copperheads, and the odd nautical coral snake, of course.
But we've been here before. It's a haunting location.
I can see the real estate ad now: The nearby pond is spring-fed, directly from the Fountain of Youth.
Sometime back you had a picture with a view of only the house on the right, along with the leaning tree with boards nailed on for a ladder. The rope across the water was also in the first picture and the overall look was one of complete isolation; no other buildings in sight. This view changes all of that with the addition of the large extended building to the left and the couple in the carriage.
I would love to throw a spinner bait across that pond!
On Shorpy:
Today’s Top 5