When NRPA recently announced its call for applications for its Fund Your Park initiative, I immediately began to wrack my brain for project ideas. Shade structures, playgrounds, Fitness Zones…what would be the best project?! As I mulled through all our project ideas, I realized that each of these projects had their niche audience. Families would love a playground, fitness gurus a Fitness Zone, dog lovers a dog park. But I wanted something that had nearly no ‘demographic’ – something for everyone. That’s when I decided we had to choose a park that had a shared story – a story of our home and how it came to be.
Aside from National Historic Parks and Monuments like
Antietam or Gettysburg, most of us don’t spend too much time thinking about the
history of a park. In most cases, parks are the result of available land and
the all important public demand. Despite the fact that outdoor recreation and
park facilities are highly sought after by residential developers and
home buyers, and the fact that many of us spend large quantities of our free
time frequenting parks, very few of us really take the time to ponder the
significance of a park. They are fixtures in our community. Something we expect
to see, and something that we might not take the time to really appreciate –
like, say, electricity. (Seriously, how often do you stop and think, “Man, I’m
so glad the lights are on,” ?) You might
be surprised just how significant some of our ‘everyday’ parks.
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| The DuBois Family on the porch of the Pioneer Home early 1900s |
DuBois Park is one of Palm Beach County’s most popular parks
for some very obvious reasons. It’s gorgeous. Not pretty, gorgeous.
Breathtaking. Stunning. Views of the Jupiter Inlet and Atlantic Ocean are
picturesque. This pristine and tranquil
place is the perfect spot to get lost in your thoughts (except maybe not on a Saturday
afternoon…like I said, it’s popular). Spend your afternoon swimming,
snorkeling, boating, fishing, picnicking – you name it. There is one fixture
that many might overlook in their zeal to access that crystal blue water – the
DuBois House. The park’s namesake once lived in this wooden shingled New Jersey
style home built in the late 1800s. It sits high atop a ‘hill’ with a perfect
view of the water. Recently, the Department has spent countless hours
renovating and rehabilitating the house in accordance with National Historic
Registry standards (this house is on the registry) in an effort to get the
house up and running for the general public. Yet, there is much more than what
meets the eye in this little house upon the hill. In fact, County Archaeologists
have actually identified this ‘hill’ to be a Native American shell midden, made
of oyster shells, that was most likely built around 1000 years ago. The DuBois midden was one of many that
historians have found all along the Jupiter Inlet. Historians also have uncovered bits of
pottery and trade beads intermixed in these middens that have led many to
believe that Ponce de Leon might have been in this region as well. Harry DuBois, the pioneer that purchased this
piece of land, chose to place his homestead upon the hill to protect it from
rising waters and the unbridled sea (no rock walls and jetties in those
days…). Beyond the DuBois House is
another often missed landmark, The Pineapple Packing House.
The funny name explains the little house’s history in a nutshell. Once used a storage shed for pineapple harvests, Harry DuBois decided he would put it on a barge and float it up the Loxahatchee River to a piece of property he’d bought along the Jupiter Inlet – now DuBois Park. The Pineapple Packing House was the home of the DuBois family while their ‘big house’ was being built and later converted back into storage. Over the years the Pineapple House was altered, added on to, and moved – and yet it still kept its name. Finally, it made its way back to the DuBois Property, disheveled and broken down but still standing.
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| The Pineapple Packing House |
The funny name explains the little house’s history in a nutshell. Once used a storage shed for pineapple harvests, Harry DuBois decided he would put it on a barge and float it up the Loxahatchee River to a piece of property he’d bought along the Jupiter Inlet – now DuBois Park. The Pineapple Packing House was the home of the DuBois family while their ‘big house’ was being built and later converted back into storage. Over the years the Pineapple House was altered, added on to, and moved – and yet it still kept its name. Finally, it made its way back to the DuBois Property, disheveled and broken down but still standing.
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The view of the Jupiter Inlet from DuBois Park
The story of DuBois Park is not one that is told often
enough, and I wonder how many really know just how significant this place
really is. It is in this spirit, that Palm Beach County has become quite
motivated to create opportunities within our parks for educational opportunities,
as well as recreation. We invite you to help us in our mission to share the
story of how ancient civilizations lived, how our county was settled, and how
people once lived. Plans have been
drawn up that include the rehabilitation and restoration of the little shed to
its historical roots, however now instead of pineapples, it will house a
gallery and educational kiosk to educate the public on our local history, how
the park came to be, and flora and fawna of the area. We cannot do this project alone, and we hope
that you will support us in reaching our goals.
See, we believe that the best part of parks and recreation is not based
on what you get to do, it’s based on what you take away.
To Help Save the Pineapple House, please visit: http://www.fundyourpark.org/campaign/detail/3669
