Little is known about the once small town called Fruita. Located just north of what is now Hobe Sound, Fruita was a small farming and fishing community surprisingly nestled between Dixie Highway and the Jupiter narrows north of Hobe Sound. A beautiful hilly landscape coated in fertile soil, fruit trees, colorful gardens, pines and palmettos. This community was prime territory for farming fruits and growing locally famous citrus but also the site permitted easy access to the a

Interview conducted in early December 2021 in Hobe Sound, Florida. Jeff Whittman has been an important part to my research into Palm Beach and Martin County history. As a local, Jeff knew many key players growing up that helped tell the story of the quiet town of Hobe Sound. Throughout the years, Jeff has fought hard against and with county commissioners and the like to help keep Hobe Sound the beautiful, environmentally important and historically complex town it deserves to