Enjoy a Perfect Day at Wall Springs Park

The History of Wall Springs Park

The main “attraction” for nearly 100 years at Wall Springs Park has been the natural freshwater spring, named Wall Springs, which bubbles forth from the Upper Floridian Aquifer. The flow averages nearly 3,000 gallons per minute; however, it dries up in times of drought and more than doubles in times of heavy rainfall.

Prehistoric Period at Wall Springs

A number of shovel tests were carried out since the 1990s with positive results. Most of the tests reveal what archaeologists believe were tool processing centers. A couple of the test sites also revealed pottery. The general consensus is that the Wall Springs area was dry and flat when Native Americans used it, due to lower sea levels. The fresh water of the spring likely drew them to the area. No evidence currently exists to indicate that prehistoric people built a village here. It was likely a place used by Native Americans in the Tampa Bay area for fishing, harvesting shellfish, and hunting small animals such as raccoons and rabbits.

Owned by Charles F. Wall

The first white settlers in the area were the Gause family. Drawn by the fresh water of the spring, they built a homestead nearby in the 1860s. However, they moved east of Tarpon Springs shortly after to an area that became known as Gauseville. Charles F. Wall bought the spring in 1876 and opened it as a recreation center to the public.

The Wall Family was prominent in the Tampa Bay area at the time. Charles’ father, Perry, was a probate judge in Hillsborough County. His half-brother, William, owned a retail store in downtown Tampa. His brother, John, was a doctor and also served as Tampa’s mayor from 1878 to 1880. And his nephew, Charlie, is known as the “dean of Tampa’s underworld“.

The census from the time lists Charles F. Wall as a citrus grower. Besides farming, he and his wife ran the recreation center at Wall Springs. It was such a popular destination in the early 1900s that the railroad built a small depot adjacent to the spring. Charles died in 1913 and left Wall Springs to his niece, Moss Rose. She had a bathhouse built on the property in 1926. Photos indicate the bathhouses were located approximately where the boardwalk crosses the lagoon now. Moss Rose sold Wall Springs to Harry W. Davis in 1927.

Owned by Harry W. Davis

When Harry Davis purchased Wall Springs in 1927, he renamed it Health Springs. For 21 years, he bottled and sold water from the spring. He also opened a spa with bathhouses and marketed that to northerners who visited in the winter. Many of the area springs – Tarpon Springs to the north, Sulphur Springs to the northeast, the spring at Safety Harbor – marketed themselves as healing, rejuvenating places to vacation with special medicinal properties attributed to the mineral-laden waters.

Harry Davis also perpetuated the myth that Ponce de Leon had found this spring and saw his wife’s silhouette in the vent of the spring. It’s true, though, that at a certain angle and lighting, the vent does resemble the profile of a woman’s face. Besides managing the spa, Harry Davis was a Realtor who lived in Wall Springs. In 1949, he sold the property to the Cullen Family.

Owned by the Cullen Family

The Cullens changed the name back to Wall Springs when they purchased the property. They continued operating the property as a public swimming hole with bathhouses. They added a sand volleyball court, baseball fields, horseshoes, picnic pavilions, and a nature trail. Recreational swimming and use of the surrounding land continued until 1988 though the Cullens stopped allowing the public on it in the 1960s. In 1989, Pinellas County began purchasing the land around the spring. Swimming is no longer allowed at the spring because of the its environmentally sensitive nature.

Wall Springs Becomes a County Park

Since 1989, Pinellas County has purchased a total of 210 acres around Boggy Bayou. The original park offers recreation trails, fishing piers, an observation tower, playground, picnic pavilions, restrooms, parking, a butterfly garden, and the historic spring. Access the Coastal Addition from the original park via a paved path or by car at the addition’s separate entrance. The Coastal Addition offers crushed shell nature trails, a paved exercise path, observation tower, restrooms, and a fishing pier.