RIVERBEND PARK – TRAPPER NELSON: THE MAN, THE MYTH
7/28/2022
TRAPPER NELSON
(Photo/utube.com)
Join Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse Historian Josh Liller on Friday, July 29, 2022 to hear about the colorful life and mysterious death of Vince “Trapper” Nelson.
Liller’s one-hour presentation includes rare photos and the latest research of perhaps Jupiter’s most legendary character.
Admission is free.
Liller is Historian for the Loxahatchee River Historical Society and Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse & Museum. He is co-author of the revised edition of Five Thousand Years on the Loxahatchee and editor of the second edition of The Florida Lighthouse Trail (2020).
LOCATION: Jupiter Branch Public Library, 705 Military Trl, Jupiter, FL 33458
DATE/TIME: Jul 29, 2:30 pm – 3:30 pm
ADMISSION COST: Free
RESERVATIONS: Click here or go to or call (561) 744-2301
EXPLORER
(Photo/Narratively.com)
Born in 1908 in New Jersey and a former resident of Mexico and Texas, the muscular outdoorsman known as “Tarzan of the Loxahatchee” set up a homestead in the then almost-unreachable Loxahatchee River that runs through Riverbend Park in the 1930s.
Check out more photos of Trapper by clicking here.
ENTREPRENEUR
(Photo/Jonathan Dickinson State Park)
Nelson established a zoo, which brought the local gentry from nearby Jupiter Island and Palm Beach to buy tickets.
He wrestled alligators to the delight of visitors, who paid for the show. He charmed snakes, as well as the local population. He trapped and lived off animals on his homestead near Riverbend Park.