In the early 1920s, when the economy was in its heyday and the real estate business was booming, the Olympia Improvement Corporation drew up plans to turn a small town in Florida named Hobe Sound into the next Hollywood. A downtown was built in Grecian style, with all the streets being named after various Greek gods and goddesses, such as Zeus, Athena, Mars, Saturn, as well as many more. A school was built and named Olympus School and large cement streetlights lined the streets. The town was renamed Picture City and plans were drawn up for a film production studio.
But in 1928, plans were halted. The deadly Okeechobee Hurricane swept through Florida, killing 2,500 people. The real estate boom in Florida plummeted, and the flow of people into the state dwindled. Because of this, the plans for Picture City were abandoned. The town was renamed back to Hobe Sound, and no studio was ever built.
Today, what is known locally as “Old Hobe Sound” is what remains of the old Picture City. Though most are gone, there are still some of the old cement street lights standing, towering over the sidewalks. Olympus School was renamed Apollo School and remained opened until 1962. Now, Hobe Sound is a quaint beach town that is a secret that most locals love to keep, with all the dreams of becoming the star-filled “Picture City” behind them.
{ 0 comments }