THE HISTORY OF THE PARK
• Warm Mineral Springs was established on
November 28, 1977.
•The City of North Port purchased Sarasota
County’s interest in the Springs on Friday,
September 26, 2014 for $2.75 million. The City has
contracted with National and State Park
Concessions, Inc., to operate the natural spring and
its facilities.
DID YOU KNOW?
It is the only warm spring in Florida,
maintaining a temperature of 85
degrees year round, with one of the
highest mineral contents of any natural
spring in the United States.
In 1959, the park was the site of a
celebration for Florida’s Quadricentennial.
This is the same year that the
City of North Port was incorporated.
Warm Mineral Springs Park dates
back to the Ice Age. The remains of a
prehistoric hunter and evidence of
several creatures including a saber
tooth tiger were extracted during
exploratory dives in the 1950s.
6 GASPARILLA MAGAZINE January/February 2020
In 1977, the Springs itself received
designation on the National Register of
Historic Places. The existing buildings
and cyclorama (that tells the story of
Ponce de Leon’s search for the
Fountain of Youth) were also listed in
August of 2019.
Jack West, a leader of the Sarasota
School of Architecture, designed the
buildings at the park.
In April 2019, the North Port City
Commission adopted a master plan for
the entire site, which includes historical
restoration of the three existing
buildings, utility infrastructure improvements
and additional recreational
and educational amenities.