History in the Shores of Jupiter

In late June 1989, an exciting archaeological excavation was conducted on the 150 year old military encampment site of the Tennessee Mounted Volunteers right here in The Shores of Jupiter. For those of you who may be new to this area, Jupiter played its role in American history during the Second Seminole War in 1838. After a major battle with the Seminoles (The Battle of Loxahatchee), the U.S. Army established Old Fort Jupiter one mile to the east and the militiamen bivouacked right here on what is now Winding Lake Drive.

The 1500 soldiers, including 500 Tennessee Volunteers and 100 Alabama Volunteers were led by Maj. Gen. Thomas S. Jesup who engaged approximately 300 Seminoles on the Loxahatchee River on January 24, 1838. Major William Lauderdale, the commander of the volunteers, was later ordered to hack a trail from Jupiter to New River to build a fort there which was named "Fort Lauderdale" in his honor and the trail became known as the "Military Trail" that we know today.