Boyer Cottage

Boyer Cottage. Built: 1878 - Moved: 1978. , From Nassau to Spring Bayou , Bahamian native Joshua Boyer, already a seasoned sailor, left for Key West before he was 20. He spent the 1870s earning a living from the sea along Florida's sparsely settled west coast. On a fishing trip in 1877, he stopped at a small sponging settlement named Anclote on the Anclote River. He anchored his sloop at nearby Spring Bayou where he met Alexander M. Ormond, an early homesteader. Joshua met Ormond's daughter Mary. They fell in love, married and built this tiny cottage and a livery stable next to Alexander's small home. , A Town Springs Up , Mary once remarked to Joshua about the large tarpon fish springing from the waters of Spring Bayou. Soon the nes settlement of Tarpon Springs jumped with action. In 1881 Philadelphia industrialist Hamilton Disston acquired four million acres of land in Florida. While Disston's agents examined his holdings around Spring Bayou, they stayed in a new 'hotel' the Boyers created from their converted stable. Other guests included Anson Safford, former gold miner and territorial governor of Arizona, and developers with Disston's Lake Butler Villa Company. Boyer and Safford later served on Taropn Springs' first city council. In 1898 Joshua Mary and her father Alexander moved to Florida's east coast, returning occasionally to visit family and friends. , Business and Pleasure , The Boyers lived well in Tarpon Springs. They filled the family dinner table with wild deer, turkey and squirrels caught nearby and crops grown near the cottage. They entertained land speculators visiting the new Tarpon Springs settlement. Once in January 1883, Joshua and Disston's surveyor, Captain John Walton, courted land speculators with a fine feast of venison. Boyer, still a proficient sailor, competed in boat races and hosted fishing parties on his sloop, the Tantalus. , Profiting By Land and Sea , By the 1880s, Joshua became a land speculator, plus he fished, farmed and sailed to nearby harbors to sell goods. The busy man also operated a regular mail coach service between Tarpon Springs and Tampa. Under the best of conditions, the one way journey by carriage on the barely improved roads took at least two days! , Tidbits From Time , A House on the Move , By the early 1920s the cottage was moved to Orange Avenue, a block form Tarpon Springs business district, where it caught the eye of George Protos. The young Greek American bot, who lived across the street, later purchased the home. , Casing Out the Cottage , Note the board and batten siding of the cottage, a distinctively vertical style of construction. Over the years owners added rooms to the home that were later removed but the cottage never had electricity. , A Note About Anclote , In Spanish the word anclote means anchor. This name implies that, like an anchor the keeps a boat safe and stable, the Anclote River is a safe haven for sailors from rough seas and hostile parties.