Hobe Sound is an unincorporated area and census-designated place (CDP) in Martin County, Florida, United States. The population was 11,521 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Port St. Lucie Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Geography and climate

Hobe Sound is located at 27°04′36″N 80°08′31″W / 27.076737°N 80.142076°W / 27.076737; -80.142076.

Hobe Sound is an exurban area in southern Martin County near the Atlantic Ocean. It stretches along the coast between Port Salerno and Jonathan Dickinson State Park but does include Jupiter Island.

History

The name of Hobe Sound comes from the name of the Jove or Jobe Indians, one of the Native American groups that lived in the area before European settlement. The Spanish pronounced Jove/Jobe as [ˈxoβe], which later evolved into the current spelling "Hobe".

The earliest recorded European contact occurred in 1696 when a British ship, the barkentine (three-masted ship) Reformation, sailing from Jamaica to Philadelphia sank close to the shore north of Jupiter Inlet, carrying 25 passengers and crew and a cargo of sugar, rum, beef, molasses, and Spanish currency. The small Quaker party, including its most notable passenger, Jonathan Dickinson, encountered and received aid from the Jove Indians. Hobe Sound received its name by 1699, according to the Florida WPA Guide.