For many years, when the Jupiter Inlet District dredged the inlet, it pumped the sand into a marsh on the north side of the inlet. The result was a widening of the southern tip of Jupiter Island that fronted on the ocean and the Loxahatchee River. Hobe Sound resident John Hay “Jock” Whitney planned to build a house on the property, which he owned with his sister Joan Whitney Payson and Michael Phipps.
Charles Prynne “Charlie” Martyn (1911-1983) of Massachusetts discovered the site on Memorial Day weekend 1953 and persuaded Whitney to sell him 86 acres for $3,000-plus an acre. Martyn laid out Jupiter Inlet Colony and started selling lots at $7,500 on the ocean, $6,800 on the river, and $4,800 in the interior. Golf professional Toney Penna and singer Perry Como were among the first purchasers; Jupiter landscaper Roy Rood traded services for a lot.
In 1959 the .18-square-mile community of Jupiter Inlet Colony was incorporated as a municipality. Martyn retained ownership of the tip of the island, including the Beach Club, until 1964. John W. “Jack” Kurtz Jr. bought a large part of Martyn’s holdings in the area, including the Beach Club and Martyn’s lots in the colony. A bond issue then provided the money for the town to purchase the clubhouse.