Who remembers the “Juno Ball”?
By Michelle Quigley
The Juno Ball was well known in the 1960s and 70s as a landmark for offshore fisherman. Fishing reports from those days often referred to catches “off the Juno Ball”. But as explained in this 1976 Palm Beach Post column about local fishing-speak, the problem with using “off the Juno Ball” as a point of reference was that the tower was visible for up to 10 miles from southeast to northeast, so it could mean anywhere in the ocean from Singer Island to Blowing Rocks.
In 2007 Eliot Kleinberg wrote a Post Time column about the history of the ball:
The venerable Seminole Golf Club opened in 1929 with a cylindrical water tank.
The 1949 hurricane destroyed the tower. The club used wells for a decade. In 1959, it installed a $25,000, 60,000-gallon spherical tank that could withstand 160- to 180-mph winds.
Since it was an orb anyhow, it made sense to have it look like a golf ball.
It had a diameter of 25 1/2 feet. At 135 feet, it was taller than its famous neighbor, the 105-foot Jupiter Lighthouse, and it served as a landmark for offshore fishermen.
For years, the tower also was a backup water supply for Juno Beach. But it became obsolete when the wells under it began showing signs of saltwater intrusion and Juno Beach became part of Seacoast Utilities’ service territory. It came down in 1981.
Palm Beach Post staff file photo
Tags: fishing, Juno Beach, landmarks
I climbed to the top about 1979 after it fell into disuse. There was a trail coming from the Juno fire station going to it. As I recall, there was no fence around it. It had a submarine style oval door and a steel ladder in the center going straight through the globe to the top. Occasional holes were in the shaft to let air and light in as you ascended the ladder. A round hatch could be opened and you could look out in all directions with a refreshing breeze. It had a very retro-cool, aerodynamic look to it. It also had no graffiti on it. I guess back in the day, kids didn’t do that. Too bad it had to go.