The story of industrial-scale timber harvesting is what would become Corbett and Hungryland WMA's begins with one of the largest land purchased in Florida history. In 1902, the Southern States Land and Timber Company, a New Orleans-based firm, purchased approximately 2-million acres in the vicinity of Lake Okeechobee for .25 cents an acre. This massive acquisition made Southern States one of the largest landholders in the region and positioned the company to exploit the virgi

This lecture was conducted in the Spring of 2024 at the Historical Society of Martin County on Hutchinson Island, located in Martin County, Florida. The Whiticar family has been a local staple for about 100 years. Curt Whiticar played an integral role in Martin County's famed sport fishing industry. Because of Curt, Stuart was put on the map as the "sailfishing capital of the world!" Curt's meticulously crafted fishing vessels, Whiticar Boatworks, grace the waters of Martin C

Long before strip malls replaced the undeveloped vistas along US1 and Dixie, Florida’s treasure coast was blanketed with miles of pineapple fields. Starting in the 1870’s in our Stuart area, local families began the grow process and within two decades, Jensen Beach was known as the “Pineapple capitol of the world”. But with miles of pineapples and just one family per grove, how did the delicious crop gain its popular success?  Many of Martin county’s migrant worker population

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