Hobe Sound
from the Beginning
The first complete history of Hobe Sound, Florida. From the Ais and Jeaga peoples through the railroad, the land boom, the war years, and the families who built the town. Thirteen years of research, gathered in one hardcover volume.
From the book
In 1885, the mail came to Hobe Sound on foot.
A carrier named James Ed Hamilton walked the beach from Palm Beach toward Miami, crossing the inlets in a small skiff he kept hidden in the bushes. One trip, the skiff was gone. A search party found his mail sack and his clothes hung on a tree on the north side of Hillsboro Inlet, and the boat on the south side. His body was never found.
That is one story out of hundreds. Hobe Sound from the Beginning is the record of a South Florida town that never had its history written down in one place, until now.
FROM THE BOOK
The old Loxahatchee swing bridge
Painted view, page 44.
"This is old Hobe Sound."
A view that survived in paint when the bridge itself did not.
The whole sweep, in one book
The indigenous peoples, the Spanish and English, the Seminole wars, Henry Flagler's railroad, the pineapple growers, Prohibition rumrunners, Camp Murphy and the U-boat war, and decade after decade of hurricanes. Around 150 sections, gathered over thirteen years.
The history that usually gets left out
The book documents Black Hobe Sound with the same care as the rest: the Colored Elementary Schools, Gomez Cemetery, Allen Temple AME, and the Pettway, Allen, and Lester families, with sections contributed by those families themselves.
Names, dates, and families
Around sixty family histories, a list of the pioneer homes still standing, and a deep photo archive. For anyone researching a Martin County family line, this is a primary source.
Order your copy
A town's history is worth keeping. Order a copy for your shelf, for a researcher, or for someone who grew up there.