 Probably no other location on the East Coast of the United States enjoys
the international reputation for guiding ships throughout the centuries
as does the area now known as Jupiter. This location protrudes further
out into the Atlantic Ocean, relatively speaking, than any other point
along the Florida coast. For this reason it has guided ships of all
kinds from about 1550 to the present. Today, as was done by early New
World explorers, all ships usually consider this an important point when
planning their sailing routes to Central and South America. Jupiter is rich in history and Florida lore with earliest known records
of the Jupiter Inlet dating back to 1565. When the Spanish first came to
this area they found the Jega Indians living along the banks of the
Inlet and river. Tie Indians called themselves the Jobe, so the Spanish
explorers named the river running into the Inlet the Jobe River, after
the native tribe. Later, when English settlers found the area around
1763, Jobe sounded to them like the mythological god Jove, or Jupiter,
and the name has remained ever since. |
