Florida Historical Markers Programs - Marker Detail

Description: Cinquez Park commemorates the resilient history of one of the oldest African American settlements in Palm Beach County. Beginning in 1904, more than 15 pioneer families from north Florida and South Carolina settled in central Jupiter, homesteading 40-, 80-, and 160-acre tracts under the 1862 Homestead Act. Several others purchased property directly. In the area then known as West Jupiter, pioneers and their descendants created a close-knit community with small businesses, churches, schools, baseball fields, and a volunteer fire station to serve African Americans segregated by the era’s Jim Crow laws and attitudes. In addition to farming, many of the residents also provided much needed labor for local businesses, ferneries, dairies, orange groves, homes, boats, and railroads. Their hard work helped to build a thriving Jupiter. Peter Yancy, an African American real estate developer, purchased and subdivided 54 acres in the 1940s. He named both the development and its roads after prominent Black historic figures. Most notable was Joseph Cinquez, who led an uprising on the slave ship Amistad in 1839. The preserved central green of the park once served as a gathering space for this unique community.