John K. Cheyney
(1858-1939)

Died aged c. 81

John K. Cheyney was born in 1858 in Philadelphia. His father sent him to Tarpon Springs in 1886 to manage family interests in developing the town as a tourist destination and base for fishing, lumber and citrus. Cheyney believed that the sponge industry would provide additional revenue for the town's economic development. In 1891, he formed the Anclote and Rock Island Sponge Company, with offices in Philadelphia and Tarpon Springs. In 1897 Cheyney hired John Corcoris, a Greek sponge buyer who utilized a diving suit that allowed men to spend hours at a time underwater to harvest greater quantities of sponge. In 1905 the first Greek sponge divers were invited to Tarpon Springs, the beginning of the city’s Greek community. In 1907 Cheyney helped form the Sponge Exchange, a marketplace where buyers could bid on spongers’ harvests. He served on committees that promoted the industry and lobbied against legislation that would restrict the Tarpon Springs divers. He held a number of offices in the Tarpon Springs government. John K. Cheyney died in 1939.

OpenPlaques

John King Cheyney (April 1, 1858 – March 19, 1939) was a Sponge Company & Sponge Exchange founder, a local politician and a sponge industry promoter in Tarpon Springs, Florida. A memorial on Dodecanese Boulevardcommemorates his life. He is listed as a Great Floridian.

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