Jupiter’s 100th anniversary was Feb. 9, 2025. In celebration, many residents attended the Jupiter Jubilee, which took place on Feb. 8 at the Jupiter Community Center.
Various attractions, such as live music, local vendors, food trucks and more, were featured at the event. There were many opportunities to connect with the community, like the kid zone featuring Jupiter Bounce and the JR. SWAT obstacle course, allowing the community to come together to celebrate and mark the centennial.
“That’s what it’s about,” Danny Vaz, a local Silent Disco vendor, said. “Seeing these smiles on these kids’ faces.”
From actors on stilts, to artists drawing caricatures and Girl Scouts selling cookies. Local business owners came together to provide the best experience possible for the community. Community plays a vital role in the town, and coming together is significant. The ability to unite by hosting events like this proves it.
“Jupiter has been so supportive in helping our business grow, so it’s been a pleasure,” Vaz said. “It’s just community culture all in one, there really is nothing like the Town of Jupiter.”
On multiple websites, Jupiter is ranked in the top 3 best places to live. According to Niche, Jupiter is ranked one of the greatest places to live in Florida, shown by its growing population which is currently at 61,000 residents.
“More and more people are coming here to live because it’s beautiful. We have beautiful beaches, the lighthouse and great restaurants,” Leila Schultz, planning and zoning specialist for the town of Jupiter, said.
Despite the town’s popularity, many residents are unaware of Jupiter’s history. Before Jupiter was conquered and claimed for Spain by Juan Ponce De Leon, a group of American Indians called the Jobe inhabited the land.
The Jobe tribe influenced the names of many towns including Jupiter. Ultimately the settlers would choose to rename towns to their liking. In this case, the pioneers who settled the area chose the Roman name for Zeus, to name what is now Jupiter.
The Jobe tribe lived off the resources nature provided for them, and did not use agriculture as their food source. Instead, they navigated their way through the waterways of Jupiter where they hunted sharks, deer, manatees and a variety of other species.
Unlike the Jobe Tribe, the settlers that claimed the land decided to use agriculture as their main supply of food. It was in the late 1800s that a man named Augustus “Sawgrass” Miller began to farm citrus. Miller’s idea of planting citrus became the blueprint for the thriving agriculture Jupiter is known for.
“From the pioneering days of Sawgrass Miller to the transformative initiatives of the Jansik, Menser, and Reese families, Jupiter Farms’ citrus groves have woven a rich tapestry of human resilience, innovation, and community spirit,” Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse and Museum said on their website.
Jupiter has evolved over the past several years from a small agriculture and boat town to the large, flourishing community it is today.
“I came here in the early 1980s and Jupiter was a very small beach town back then, you could drive down the beach and no one was there,” Schultz said. “Indiantown road was just two lanes, and Military Trail was all woods.”
With Jupiter’s rich history, remarkable culture and welcoming sense of community it is no wonder Jupiter’s centennial celebration was so wonderful.
The town will continue to celebrate its culture by hosting future events like history presentations and the Roger Dean Centennial Celebrations in March. For more information on how you can celebrate the Centennial, check out the Town of Jupiter’s website.
