Hobe Sound - Hutchinson Island - Jensen Beach - Jupiter Island - Palm City - Port Salerno - Sewall's Point - Stuart

About the Town:

Incorporated in 1953, the Town of Jupiter Island, located at the south end of Martin County, occupies the southernmost of Florida's three barrier islands. The waterfront town is bounded on the east by nine miles of Atlantic Ocean and on the west by the Intracoastal Waterway. With a permanent population near 650 and a seasonal population of approximately 1,800, Jupiter Island, which prides itself on the area’s seclusion and tranquility, offers a high-quality residential community keen on preserving its natural resources. The town, located about 30 miles north of West Palm Beach, ranks second among the highest-income places in the U.S., attracting the rich and famous with top-notch real estate and the promise of privacy.

History:

The Town of Jupiter Island in southeastern Martin County, is one of the wealthiest and most exclusive communities in the United States.

With an estimated population of 653 people, who have an estimated per capita income of $200,087 a year, the town covers 3.6 square miles of barrier island opposite the community of Hobe Sound. The median value of homes in the town is about $5.6 million.

Although the island has been inhabited since 1815, the town itself was not chartered until 1953.

Jupiter Island was the site of the wreck of the barkentine Reformation in 1699, which formed the basis of the first book written and published in America by an America - Jonathan Dickinson’s Journal, the story of the Quaker, Jonathan Dickinson and his party as they endured captivity among the native people and then walked all the way along the shore to St. Augustine.

The first resident of the island was Charles Jackson of Dayton, Ohio, who settled there in 1881. He was followed by many Englishmen who formed the Indian River Association Limited. In 1892, the Hobe Sound Yacht Club was formed on the island and what is now the town became a winter playground for the wealthy and famous. William Angas built a small hotel, The Island Inn now the Jupiter Island club.

The quiet, low-key character of the island was set in 1933, when Joseph Verner Reed, U.S. Ambassador to France, and his wife, Permela, bought the Island Inn and created the Jupiter Island Club which formed the social and civic center of the island.

Today, the town cherishes its unique atmosphere which has made it home to such luminaries as U.S. Ambassador Averill Harriman, Defense Secretary Robert Lovett, Secretary of the Treasury C. Douglas Dillon, Sen. Prescott Bush, President George H. W. Bush, Pennsylvania Governor William Scranton, and Undersecretary of the Interior Nathaniel Reed, plus singer Celine Dion, and golfers Greg Norman and Tiger Woods.

Fast Facts:

• Jupiter Island was founded by Joseph V. Reed and Permelia Reed.

• Jupiter Island is approximately 3.6 square miles.

• Jonathan Dickinson, a Quaker merchant, shipwrecked on Jupiter Island in 1696.

• Tiger Woods, Celine Dion and Michael Jordan are celebrities who own property on Jupiter Island.

• In addition to Woods, golfers Greg Norman and Nick Price reside at Jupiter Island.

• Jupiter Island has been ranked as one of the wealthiest communities in the country.

• The Nature Conservancy's Blowing Rocks Preserve is at the southern end of Jupiter Island.

• Dorothy Bush, mother of former President George H.W. Bush, once lived on Jupiter Island.

Hobe Sound - Hutchinson Island - Jensen Beach - Jupiter Island - Palm City - Port Salerno - Sewall's Point - Stuart