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| Jupiter Island 1989 State of Florida Archives |
By Jane Feehan
As early as 1918 realtors extolled Jupiter Island as an ideal winter resort. It was second only to Palm Beach in its appeal to the wealthy. Today, this nine-mile barrier island, sitting in both Martin and Palm Beach counties, remains a mecca for the rich and famous.
In 1959, a reporter for the Miami Herald claimed there was “more wealth per square inch on Jupiter Island than any place in Florida.” Today, some say it’s America’s wealthiest community.
The chain of ownership of this Florida gem is somewhat convoluted, but its modern story began with a land grant awarded to Eusebio Gomez by the King of Spain in 1815. Jupiter Island was only part of the grant. The barrier island was explored by Massachusetts native and Florida resident, John Lee Williams in 1833. The Williams’ exploration, Henry Flagler’s visit to Saint Augustine in the 1880s or the proximity (27 miles) to the Lake Worth and Palm Beach settlements may have prompted interest in Jupiter Island.
In 1892, a group of Englishmen bought 4,000 acres of Jupiter Island with the intent of establishing a pineapple plantation. When a devastating freeze undid their agricultural aspirations (and spurred Henry Flagler to extend his railway to Miami), the English-owned Indian River Association, Ltd. sold their property to the Olympia Improvement Company of New York; they were capitalized with $1.5 million for real estate development.
And development began. The Palm Beach Electricity was approved for the island in 1905. The Gainesville Daily Sun reported the first wireless communication reached Jupiter Island from Anastasia Island, St. Johns County, Florida, also in 1905. A bridge at its north end was built in 1911 (and replaced in the 1980s). William Angas, once head of Olympia and later the Hobe Sound Company, built the Island Inn, a collection of cottages and a golf course. It opened during the 1916-1917 winter and hosted 150 guests the first year.
Miami and Palm Beach newspapers were sprinkled with advertisements for sales of lots on the island. Realtor T.A. Hamby touted “electric lights, golf, surf bathing, pure, soft water in great abundance and the only free bridge on the East Coast.” An ocean lot went for $25 a foot, other lots for $6, a mile for $30k. “Easy payments with interest at five percent” the ads promised. If coming by train, Hamby directed lookers to get off at Hobe Sound and take a ferry to Jupiter Island. Land lots were in high demand in 1917.
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| Tamquery beachfront home and boarding house 1890 Jupiter Island State of Florida Archives |
Residents then, as now, were civic minded. County Commissioner and resident John Grant suggested in June 1918 the golf course at the Island Inn be used to raise sheep for wool and meat to feed America as part of their war effort. Grant asked via the newspaper for contacts to reach those who knew where to find sheep. The war ended a few months later, in November that year; the response is unknown to this writer.
In 1925, the Hobe Sound Company sold Jupiter Island assets to Picture City. When the Florida land boom came to a halt, Picture City abandoned its plans for land development. Hobe Sound Company (at that time Mary Duke Biddle) once again owned the property. She sold the company to a trio of island residents, Arthur S. Dwight, Joseph V. Reed and Samuel F. Pryor for $25,000. In 1934, Reed bought out the two other partners and developed the island (and the Jupiter Island Inn). For a detailed chronology, see: https://townofjupiterisland.com/history/ or the book by Nathanial Pryor Reed, The Hobe Sound Company and the Jupiter Island Club (Amazon).
One account from 1935 reported a construction boom was underway with 10 homes being built or renovated. Six new estates were occupied during the winter of 1940.
Some other island facts:
* Quaker merchant Jonathan Dickenson, the namesake of the state park on the mainland in Hobe Sound, was shipwrecked on Jupiter Island in 1696 on his way from Jamaica to Philadelphia.
* Hobe Sound Stone Co. operated a quarry (1927-1930) on the island from which high-quality stone was removed for homes and a casino pool on the island.
* In 1934 the Palm Beach Post reported that World Heavyweight Champion Gene Tunney bought property on Jupiter Island with a business partner.
* Secretary of State John Foster Dulles came to Jupiter Island to recover from cancer surgery in 1959.
* In the 1950s the island was home to Averill Harriman, Marshall Fields, Jr. and John Quincy Adams (namesake descendent).
* Northern Jupiter Island lies in Martin County; the south in Palm Beach County.
* Two wildlife preserves sit on the island: the southern preserve belongs to the Nature Conservancy; the preserve on the northern end belongs to the U.S. Department of the Interior.
* The Town of Jupiter Island was incorporated in 1953 and sits in Martin County.
* Island property sold by the Hobe Sound Company was developed and held by the Reed family until 1996.
* Celebrity residents once included Greg Norman, Celine Dion
* Jupiter Island is closest to the Gulf Stream of all Florida East Coast locations
* Population of the Town of Jupiter Island was 803 in 2019
Sources:
Gainesville Sun Daily, Sept. 28, 1905
Palm Beach Post, May 13, 1916
Palm Beach Post, Dec. 13, 1916
Palm Beach Post, Feb. 17, 1917
Palm Beach Post, March 25, 1917
Palm Beach Post, June 8, 1918
Palm Beach Post, Jan. 23, 1920
Palm Beach Post, Jan. 22, 1921
Palm Beach Post, April 17, 1923
Miami Tribune, Nov. 13, 1924
Palm Beach Post, March 23, 1930
Palm Beach Post, May 17, 1934
Palm Beach Post, Nov. 27, 1935
Palm Beach Post, Nov. 17, 1940
Palm Beach Post, Feb. 12, 1950
Miami Herald, April 2, 1953
Miami Herald, March 26, 1959
Grunwald, Michael. The SwampT. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2006
Tags: Jupiter Island history, Palm Beach County history, Jupiter
