#300 Koreshan State Park

Costumed Koreshan's

Our next stop was about an hour or so North is called Koreshan State Park. It was a historic settlement for a religious sect back in the 1890s. They were similar to the Shakers and it was interesting to see the historical buildings and learn about it.

When I first saw the name correction, I thought you would say it core shan.

Obviously didn't know anything about the place and immediately found out that I was saying it all wrong

It's actually pronounced more the way it's spelled.

Core esh shan.

Once I heard it properly pronounced it kind of reminded me of David Koresh Waco Texas which was really not a healthy person.

All the all these years ago the Koreshans wanted something of a religious utopian existence separate from society with kind of weird rules.

David Koresh wanted almost identically the same thing and yeah to my knowledge there is absolutely no connection between the two groups.

The state park was a nice facility and India and I went on a little walk to tour the grounds. We went into one of the main buildings and listened to a movie and learned quite a bit.

I have copied Wiki info because its so detailed

We walked down by the homestead of the original owner.

Gustave Damkohler's old cottage at the Koreshan State Historic Site park in Estero, Florida.

I went down to the river trying to imagine goods and services coming and going because this would have been a major method of transportation back then. The river would’ve been much easier for heavy loads than horse and buggy.

I noticed that out front there was a general store. it faced the highway and it was a place for Mercantile back then. It probably turned into a grocery store gas station later and now a sort of just part of the state park as restored old building.

In my pictures it's the large yellow building.

It seemed like a rather largely all female lead operation.

Early Koreshan Unity Women. Photo from Koreshan State Historic Site Photograph Collection.

However, the big boss was Mr. Teed and he was not female and probably had control over final decisions.

I just think visiting this state park was something of a surprise as we knew absolutely nothing about it. Now I know way too much about it now but it was a nice visit

To me they were pretty weird but earth-centered. I have put a little Wikipedia stuff here because there's a lot to know about them.

Description the Koreshan State Historic Site is a state park in Lee County, Florida located on U.S. Highway 41 at Corkscrew Road. It was also added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 4, 1976 under the designation of Koreshan Unity Settlement Historic District.

In 1894, they landed in remote Estero, Florida, on the southwest coast of the state between Fort Myers and Naples, and created the Koreshan Unity Settlement. Teed's grand vision was to create “The New Jerusalem”, a home for 10 million people, though the original settlement was only around 300 acres of swampland.

Throughout its history, Florida has welcomed pioneers of all kinds. Cyrus Reed Teed was probably the most unusual, bringing followers to Estero in 1894 to build the "New Jerusalem" for his new faith, Koreshanity.

Original Electric Hollow Earth Model in Art Hall

The Koreshans also believed that the earth was hollow and that we live inside, standing on its inner shell.

Dr. Cyrus R. Teed's utopian community of 200 followers relocated from Chicago to Florida in 1894.

Dr. Teed took the name 'Koresh,' the Hebrew translation for Cyrus, meaning shepherd.

The colonists believed that the entire universe existed within a giant, hollow sphere. They conducted experiments that seemed to confirm their beliefs. The Koreshans built and operated a printing facility, boat works, cement works, sawmill, bakery, store and hostelry.

Education, science and art also helped shape their community.

After the death of Dr. Teed in 1908 at the age of 69, membership of his religious group began to decline.

In 1961, the last four members deeded 305 acres of their land to the state. What remains of their once vibrant community are 11 beautifully maintained historic structures that date from 1882 - 1920 and landscaped grounds including unique ornamental exotic vegetation from throughout the world.

The Koreshan Unity Settlement Historic District is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Additional Information about the History of Koreshan

Koreshan State Park History

Koreshan Unity Members with Horse Cart. Photo from Koreshan State Historic Site Photograph Collection.

In 1894 the followers of Cyrus Teed, who called himself Koresh, worked out an agreement with land owner Gustave Damkohler to acquire 320 acres of land. It was the dream of the group, called the Koreshan Unity, to build a city, which they would have thought of as their New Jerusalem.

The Koreshans believed that Teed, or Master Koresh as they called him, was the seventh prophet in a line that started with Adam. Jesus had been the sixth prophet. The Koreshans used the Old and New Testaments of the Bible as their guidebook. Teed would reveal what Jesus had not—the answers to everything in the universe.

When Teed was 30, living in New York State and practicing medicine, an angel visited him, he claimed. She told him he had been sent to redeem humanity. Teed called the experience his “Divine Illumination.”

After the visit, he began working out the principles of Koreshanity. Among his tenets was that maintaining a celibate lifestyle would bring about immortality. He also believed that women were equal to men. Understandably, women found this attractive, and about 75% of the Koreshan population was female.

It took the Koreshans nine years to clear land, construct buildings, plant crops and develop the infrastructure to support approximately 200 people.

General Note

• Dr. Cyrus R. Teed's utopian community of 200 followers began relocating from Chicago, Illinois to Florida in 1894. Dr. Teed took the name 'Koresh,' the Hebrew translation for Cyrus, meaning shepherd. The colonists believed that the entire universe existed within a giant, hollow sphere. The Koreshans built and operated a printing facility, boat works, cement works, sawmill, bakery, store and hostelry. After the death of Dr. Teed in 1908 at the age of 69, membership of his religious group began to decline. In 1961, the four remaining members deeded 305 acres of their land to the state of Florida as a park and memorial. The Koreshan Unity Settlement Historic District, a.k.a. Koreshan Unity State Park, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.

• The oldest house in Estero. Formerly the residence of Gustav Damkohler, it afterwards served as a medical cottage.

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Biography Note

• Gustave Damkohler was born on December 13, 1825 in Blankenburg, Germany. He left for Australia in 1846, and returned to Germany and left again for America. He then married and settled in Clarence, Missouri, and homesteaded in Florida. He gave his cabin and 160 acres on the Estero River to the Koreshan Unity and followed his surviving son to Alaska where he died in Juneau on September 5, 1905.

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• Portrait of Cyrus Teed. Photo from Koreshan State Historic Site Photograph Collection.

• The early 1900s were the glory years for the Koreshans, who acquired nearly 7,500 acres of land and constructed more than 70 buildings. They developed more than a dozen businesses.

• On December 22, 1908, Cyrus Teed died, and this marked the beginning of a downward spiral for the Koreshan Unity. The followers, believing he would resurrect, kept his body above ground for five days and waited. But he failed to reincarnate as promised.

• The membership gradually dwindled until in 1956 there were only five members remaining. In 1961, these members of the Koreshan Unity donated 305 acres to the State of Florida to make their land a historic site. This land included the historic settlement, conservation land near the mouth of the Estero River, and much of Mound Key, ancient home of the Calusa. The remaining members were allowed to live in the settlement until their death. The last Koreshan, Hedwig Michel, died in 1982 in her apartment in the Planetary Court.

• The Planetary Court

• Today, visitors to the site can enjoy tours of the historic settlement, kayak and canoe trips on the Estero River, a 60-site campground and many events that relate both to the natural surroundings and the history of the Koreshan Unity.

• Their legacy lives on through music in the Art Hall, an annual play called Ghost Walk, historic cooking programs, blacksmith demonstrations and the running of the antique engines that powered their machine shop and electric generator.

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Costumed Koreshan Unity Members at the Tea House and Garden, c. 1925