More information about Hobe Sound, FL

This unincorporated part of Martin County has found itself in a sweet spot. Sandwiched between the Treasure Coast to the north and the Gold Coast to the south, it has the best of both worlds. It also has a very interesting and entertaining history.

Hobe Sound History

The first European settlers came by accident. In the late 1600s a British merchant ship sank off the coast and 25 survivors made it ashore right north of Jupiter Island. The village took on the name Hobe Sound after the Jove/Jobe Indians in which they encountered. The name became official in 1699. Flip the calendar ahead all the way to 1815 when Don Eusebio Gomez was “granted” 8,000 acres by the King of Spain for his services to the crown. When Florida became a US Territory all of these Spanish Land Grants were challenged by the US government. After 20 years in the courts Gomez won and turned right around and sold the land for $1 an acre. By the 1880s there were a number of successful pineapple plantations as well as coconut groves. In 1894 the railroad came through and an advanced infrastructure was started at that time. A water plant, electric plant and a large bridge were all constructed. When the land boom took off in the 1920s Hobe Sound was actually renamed Picture City by the Olympia Improvement Corporation. They intended to develop the area into a new Hollywood! In 1928 this plan collapsed and it returned to the original name of Hobe Sound. The Great Depression hit Hobe Sound like all of Florida and the United Stated, but the area got a jumpstart with the introduction of Camp Murphy in 1942. This Army Signal Corps brought to the area a large contingent of young men to learn about radar operation. Located on 11,364 acres it housed 854 officers and 5,752 enlisted men. It was decommissioned several years later and the ground was transferred to the state and became Jonathan Dickinson State Park in 1950.

Hobe Sound Today

The area is driven by Jupiter Island, plain and simple. The attributes in the immediate area such as the fichus trees on Bridge Road, the land donated for Zeus Park, the development around Banner Lake and several community centers are all byproducts of the generosity of the residents. It also includes the Blowing Rocks Preserve and the Wildlife Refuge on the north end of the island. Today over 12,000 residents call Hobe Sound home. This has included at one point or another Tiger Woods, Alan Jackson, Celine Dion and Burt Reynolds. It is considered a predominately wealthy community that has become a winter home to well-to-do businessmen, politicians, industrialists and celebrities from both the sports and entertainment worlds. Since the area is unincorporated all municipal functions come through Martin County. Hobe Sound is considered part of the Port of St. Lucie Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is directly to the north. With it rural ambiance Hobe Sound is a beautiful part of either the Treasure Coast or the Gold Coast!