Silver Springs

Living in Silver Springs

Before Disney, before Miami Beach, there was Silver Springs. Steamboats brought visitors up the Silver River in the 1800s, and by the 1870s local boatmen had fitted glass panels into their hulls — inventing the glass-bottom boat and turning the springs into one of America's first tourist attractions. Hollywood followed: Tarzan swam here in the 1930s and 40s, 'Creature from the Black Lagoon' and the TV series 'Sea Hunt' filmed beneath the surface, and the wild rhesus monkeys you might still spot along the river are descendants of a 1930s jungle-cruise operator's ambitions. Today the springs anchor Silver Springs State Park, where the historic glass-bottom boats still run daily and kayakers glide over water so clear it doesn't look real. For homebuyers, the surrounding area — including Silver Springs Shores just south — offers some of Marion County's most attainable prices, minutes from Ocala, with a state park as the neighborhood amenity.

• Silver Springs State Park
• Historic glass-bottom boats
• Kayaking crystal-clear water
• Most attainable prices in the county