“Pineapple Capital of the World”
The History of Jensen Beach, goes back as far as the 1500s when the Ais Indians inhabited the area. The mid 1800s, saw settlers moving into the area and in 1881, John Laurence Jensen settled on this land that today bears his name. He and other newcomers began planting pineapples. By 1895, Jensen Beach was named the “Pineapple Capital of the World”, shipping out 1,000,000 boxes of pineapples during the summer months.
A pineapple canning factory was opened where fancy pineapples were put in two-quart mason jars. Captain Richards, who had also planted a pineapple farm on Hutchinson Island, produced and bottled a “pineapple digestive”. The business boomed so well that from the sand ridge of Sewall’s Point northward almost to Vero Beach, pineapples covered the cultivated area. Commercial fishing was big in the 1890s with as many as two hundred barrels shipped daily.
As the 1900s approached more people began to make Jensen Beach their winter home because they fell in love with the quiet atmosphere, great fishing and long stretches of empty beach.
