The City of Tarpon Springs rests on the banks of the Anclote River, stretching from Lake Tarpon west to the Gulf of Mexico. One documented account tells that the city's name comes from young Mary Ormond who watched the giant tarpon jumping in Spring Bayou near her home. Mary and her father, A. W. Ormond, moved from South Carolina in 1876 to became the first settlers in what is now the city of Tarpon Springs.

The Ormonds were among the first in a long line of resolute men and women who transformed Tarpon Springs from a small settlement into the thriving town it is today. It is that pioneer spirit that the Tarpon Springs Area Historical Society preserves and protects within the walls of the Historic Depot Museum, itself a symbol of that pioneering spirit.