Loxahatchee River

Coordinates: 26°56′57.9″N 80°6′25.8″W / 26.949417°N 80.107167°W / 26.949417; -80.107167

The Loxahatchee River (Seminole for river of turtles) is a 7.6 mile river near the southeast coast of Florida. It is a National Wild and Scenic River, one of only two in the state, and received its federal designation on May 17, 1985. The source of the Loxahatchee River is in Riverbend Park on the south side of Indiantown Road about 1.5 miles west of I-95 and Florida's Turnpike in Jupiter, Florida. The Loxahatchee River flows out of the Jupiter Inlet and into the Atlantic Ocean. This river was the inspiration for Florida film producer Elam Stoltzfus' 2005 project “Our Signature: the Wild and Scenic Loxahatchee River,” a film done in conjunction with the Loxahatchee River Preservation Initiative.

Launching points for canoe and kayak trips on the river are accessible at Riverbend Park and at Jonathan Dickinson State Park The 1930s pioneer homestead of Trapper Nelson lies along the river in a section that runs through Jonathan Dickinson State Park.

River

A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of water. Small rivers can be referred to using names such as stream, creek, brook, rivulet, and rill. There are no official definitions for the generic term river as applied to geographic features, although in some countries or communities a stream is defined by its size. Many names for small rivers are specific to geographic location; examples are "run" in some parts of the United States, "burn" in Scotland and northeast England, and "beck" in northern England. Sometimes a river is defined as being larger than a creek, but not always: the language is vague.

Rivers are part of the hydrological cycle. Water generally collects in a river from precipitation through a drainage basin from surface runoff and other sources such as groundwater recharge, springs, and the release of stored water in natural ice and snowpacks (e.g. from glaciers). Potamology is the scientific study of rivers while limnology is the study of inland waters in general.

Jupiter, Florida

Jupiter is a town located in Palm Beach County, Florida. According to the 2014 Census Bureau estimate, the town had a total population of 60,681. It is one of the northernmost suburbs of the Miami metropolitan area. It was rated as the 9th Happiest Seaside Town in America by Coastal Living in 2012.

History

The area where the town now sits was originally named for the Hobe Indian tribe which lived at the mouth of the Loxahatchee River, and whose name is also preserved in the name of nearby Hobe Sound. A mapmaker misunderstood the Spanish spelling "Jobe" of the Indian name "Hobe" and recorded it as "Jove". Subsequent mapmakers further misunderstood this to be the Latin translation of the god Jupiter, and they anglicized the name from Jove to "Jupiter". The Roman god Jupiter (or Zeus in the Greek mythology) is the chief Roman god, and god of light, of the sky and weather, and of the state and its welfare and its laws. Jupiter's consort was Juno, inspiring a neighboring town to name itself "Juno Beach".