The Village Hemorrhoid

Thursday, May 25, 2023

Ross Allen (1.2.1908 - 5.17.1981) - Reptile Institute - Silver Springs, FL

He was a herpetologist and writer who was an expert on snakes and crocodiles, a pioneer promoter and theme-park entrepreneur who achieved national and international fame for his animal wrestling. Born in 1908 in Pittsburgh, he was an Eagle Scout as a boy and later a stand-in for Johnny Weismuller in the Tarzan movies. He transformed the historic, natural tourist attraction of Silver Springs into a prototype of modern theme parks. He founded the Reptile Institute in Silver Springs in 1929 and catered to Florida traditions, while employing Florida residents, including many Seminole Indians. Allen ran the Reptile Institute for 46 years. He was famous for his demonstrations of handling rattlesnakes, alligators, and other creatures. He starred in many documentary films and was world famous for his expertise and showmanship.

Silver Springs saw a sharp drop in visitors in the 1970's after the opening of Walt Disney World and the gas crisis, and as the main Silver Springs attraction began to consolidate itself the peripheral attractions, like Tommy Bartlett's Deer Ranch and the Reptile Institute closed or were absorbed into the single Silver Springs park.
For a time, Ross continued to give reptile demonstrations at the Alligator Farm in Saint Augustine, and he lent his name to a small wildlife park adjacent to the Shell Factory in North Fort Myers. Then, he developed bigger plans.
Ross Allen's Alligator Town was to be a tourist attraction and alligator farm in Lake City near the intersection of I-75 and U.S.90. Rather than fight Disney, Ross hoped to siphon off some of its southbound traffic on the way. The 50 acre, $800,000 park was to feature a reptile museum, alligator farm with underwater alligator wrestling, a rattlesnake show, turtle garden, and wild lizard jungle. Waterslides, rides, and other theme park trappings were to be added eventually, with an amphitheater for concerts and other shows. Allen, along with partner Dennis Magee, a former president of the Florida Herpetological Society, planned a June 1981 opening.

But it was an opening Ross Allen would never see. The month before the park was to open he became ill, then died in Gainesville's Shands Hospital on Sunday, May 17, 1981. He was 73.

Alligator Town did eventually open, but without the inspirational Allen, it wasn't the success predicted by him. One of the building contractors ended up owning and running the alligator farm as pretty much a one man operation. Alligator Town was finally closed in 2002.