Florida Historical Markers Programs - Marker Detail

Description: The Jupiter and Lake Worth (J. & L.W.) Railway crossed this site running 7 ½ miles from Jupiter Inlet to Juno at the north end of Lake Worth. A hack line originally operated on the same route, transporting visitors and freight with wagons pulled by oxen. The narrow gauge railroad began operation on July 4, 1889, as Lake Worth pioneers celebrated with a free ride to Jupiter. Since there was no turntable, the train steamed forward to Juno and in reverse back to Jupiter. The Indian River Steamboat Company connected passengers and freight from Titusville to the J. & L.W. Railway wharf, then by rail to Juno, the Dade County seat. Engineer Blus Rice played Dixie on the wood-burning steam engine whistle to alert waiting passengers. In 1893, an article in Harper’s New Monthly Magazine dubbed the line the “Celestial Railroad” because it stopped at Jupiter, Mars, Venus, and Juno. Mars and Venus were freight stops for loading pineapples, coconuts, citrus and other locally grown produce. In 1893, Henry Flagler used the railroad to haul lumber and supplies to build the Royal Poinciana Hotel on Palm Beach. Bankruptcy and Flagler’s Florida East Coast Railroad ended the Celestial Railroad’s operations in April 1895.