Sunday, February 16, 2014

How Did Florida's Jupiter Get Its Name? By Geniusofdespair


I was driving past Jupiter and I was curious on how it got its name.

I read a few theories, but this one was the best. I think this Wikipedia one is made up, actually it is pretty funny:

The area where the town now sits was originally named for the Hobe Indian tribe which lived at the mouth of the Loxahatchee River, and whose name is also preserved in the name of nearby Hobe Sound. A mapmaker misunderstood the Spanish spelling "Jobe" of the Indian name "Hobe" and recorded it as "Jove". Subsequent mapmakers further misunderstood this to be the Latin translation of the god Jupiter, and they anglicized the name from Jove to "Jupiter". The Roman god Jupiter (or Zeus in the Greek mythology) is the chief Roman god, and god of light, of the sky and weather, and of the state and its welfare and its laws. Jupiter's consort was Juno, inspiring a neighboring town to name itself "Juno Beach".

I think Florida Fish lesions are far more intense than a Florida Map lesion, that I concocted with a planet, especially since they want to do more OIL exploration off the coast. The Gulf oil spill, says Gizmodo, caused eyeless shrimp, clawless crabs and fish with oozing sores:
 



Also see Gimleteye's post.

4 comments:

miaexile said...

yes it is more fun thinking about how the town of jupiter got its name then wondering if one can really believe the seafood coming from the Gulf is safe to EAT

Anonymous said...

I remember in my teens a bunch of us getting the vans and jeeps and heading up to Hobe Sound after school on Fridays to go surfing for the weekend. Back in the 60's North Beach road on Jupiter Island just dead ended on the beach in the middle of nowhere. Jupiter Island was tony even then so the town had designated this desolate spot the "colored beach".
Blacks weren't going anywhere near the WASPY Jupiter island and generally weren't much into surfing and sunbathing on deserted beaches anyway. Whites didn't go because they though the blacks were there.
We could park, camp and surf unmolested for the whole weekend on miles of beach all to ourselves, not a building or person in sight.. The sand fleas were wicked though..

Ironically I believe the road still ends on that deserted beach but now the place is a national wildlife refuge. No more camp fires or naked surfing,,

So I guess in an unintended way, Jim Crow saved a bit of Florida coastline.

Anonymous said...

Eyeless shrimp? Gulf Oil Spill? Read this report. http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2012/04/201241682318260912.html

Anonymous said...

Nobody seems to mention that although we are fighting oil exploration here at home, the "People's Republic of Cuba," is moving full-steam ahead with its plans to drill for oil off the Florida straits and our precious our and its irreplaceable coral reefs.

I read your Blog regularly but seldom read any protests or call to action over this dangerous subject.

Any thoughts? Please!