The Atlas Obscura Podcast · Wednesday, November 4, 2026
Writer and third-generation Floridian Becca Grimm discusses the history of Weeki Wachee Springs, a roadside attraction founded in the 1940s by former U.S. Navy frogman trainer Newton Perry, who cleared out an abandoned, overgrown spring to establish an underwater theater featuring synchronized swimmers known as mermaids.
“Newton Perry, he was... A very interesting guy. He was in the U.S. Navy and trained troops. the Navy frogmen to swim underwater during World War II.”
“this theater was built into the natural rock. It was carved out of the limestone six feet below the surface of the water,”