Image Number

Photographer

Date

Rights

Collection

Geographic Term

Subject Term

Physical Description

General Note

Warm Mineral Springs, called the original Fountain of Youth sought by Ponce de Leon, is the warmest of Florida's springs. It's year-round temperature is 87 degrees and the water flows at a rate of 17,000 gallons every three minutes. The attraction functioned as a spa and afterwards served as an important geological and archaeological site. It was later added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places on November 28, 1977.

Note plaque at the bottom which reads, "According to authentic historical documents, this warm salt spring is the fountain of youth vainly sought by Ponce de Leon. His search for it led to the discovery of Florida on Easter Sunday, 1513. Ponce de Leon first heard of this spring from Indians and one Friar Ortiz, while he was governor of Porto Rico. He made a second voyage in 1521 in search of this spring. His ships were anchored at Charlotte Harbor, a few miles to the south. While on their way here, his party was ambushed by hostile Indians and Ponce de Leon was mortally wounded. He was carried back to his ship and died a short time later."

"It is now known that for centuries, first Indians and later white men journeyed many miles in search of their health and wellbeing by bathing in and drinking these waters."

"After many years of research studying documents and maps in this country and abroad, Jonas Miller of Washington D.C. was able to establish the above facts. He discovered this spring as the original Fountain of Youth in February 1942."

Biographical Note

Joseph Janney Steinmetz was a world-renowned commercial photographer whose images appeared in such publications as the Saturday Evening Post, Life, Look, Time, Holiday, Collier's, and Town & Country. His work has been referred to as "an American social history," which documented diverse scenes of American life from affluent northeasterners to middle-class Floridians. Steinmetz moved from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Sarasota, Florida in 1941.