The Loxahatchee

Human occupation of the Loxahatchee River region of Florida goes back approximately 5,000 years. Europeans in the 16th and 17th century met the Jobe (hoe-bay) people who gave their name to Hobe Sound and Jupiter (Jobe > Jove > Jupiter). After the United States acquired Florida, the river’s headwaters saw two battles during the Second Seminole war and the area was home to Fort Jupiter.

Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse was established 1860 as a major seacoast light. It remains an active aid to navigation over 160 years later and is now the oldest surviving building between Miami and Orlando. Jupiter served as the gateway to South Florida for early tourists and pioneers, and the terminus of the Indian River steamboats. Although the Town of Jupiter incorporated in 1925, the area was small agricultural community until the 1950s.  Local modern history includes all five branches of the US military and a long but mostly successful campaign to preserve the Loxahatchee River.

The Loxahatchee River Historical Society (LRHS) was incorporated as a 501(c)3 non-profit in 1972. As stewards of the Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse & Museum and a partner in the National Conservation Lands, the LRHS preserves and interprets the dynamic history, ancient cultural heritage, and sensitive natural systems of the Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse Outstanding Natural Area and the Loxahatchee River region.

​

Written by Josh Liller, Historian and Collections Manager of the Loxahatchee Historical Society