Picture City

Florida's ghost towns are railroad towns Flagler built, 1920s land-boom subdivisions that busted, and phosphate and turpentine camps.

Picture City was a planned community in Hobe Sound, Florida, intended to be centered around the cinema industry. During the land boom of the 1920s, the Olympia Improvement Company announced elaborate plans for Hobe Sound. Its goal was to create a town, in Greek style, where motion pictures could be produced. Street names bore the Greek theme with names such as Zeus, Saturn, Mercury, Mars, Olympus, Pluto and Athena. For a brief time Hobe Sound was renamed "Picture City" and plans were presented for a movie picture production center, very similar to Hollywood, California.

Calling it Picture City was either optimism or a very good joke — boomtowns were never modest about their ambitions.

The on-the-ground condition of Picture City is unverified — it's listed here with unknown status. That could mean standing buildings, or an empty field. Go prepared for either, and consider sharing what you find so the record improves.

Nobody has confirmed the access situation, so treat any visit as reconnaissance: verify land ownership first, and be ready to admire from the road.

Here's the honest truth: access to Picture City is unverified. We couldn't confirm whether the site sits on public land, private property, or something in between — so verify land ownership and local rules before visiting, and respect private property at all times.

Ghost-town etiquette is simple: take only photographs. Removing artifacts is illegal on public lands and disrespectful everywhere else — and on federal land it can be a serious offense.