Gustave Damkohler, born 1825 in Blankenburg, Germany, was the first homesteader in Estero in 1882. He farmed along the Estero River, then known as “Mosquito Creek,” and used the river to ship his harvests and goods north through the Gulf of Mexico. Damkohler was a remarkable man. He invented a fireless cooker (heat stove), gathered […]
The Koreshans believed celibacy was the “scientific” way to attain eternal life, but the practice was not mandatory. Members could also leave the Unity if they changed their minds about marriage and family. For example, Empress Victoria Gratia, Dr. Cyrus Teed’s female counterpart, left the Unity and attempted to form her own commune. Two years […]
In 1894, something extraordinary was happening along the banks of Mosquito Creek in what is now known as Koreshan State Park. Dr. Cyrus Teed had sent down the first group of his followers from Chicago to clear land and begin building what would be the foundations of his vision of a religious-utopian community called the […]
You can book your place on the next guided tour when you pay park admission at the entrance ranger station. Tours begin in the beautiful Art Hall still used for public concerts as it was in the days of the Koreshan Unity Settlement. The hall is filled with artwork created by former Koreshan members and […]
Dr. Cyrus Teed, AKA “Master Koresh,” founder of the Koreshan Unity, told his followers that he would resurrect in three days, much in the same manner as Jesus Christ. He died December 22nd, three days before Christmas. His followers felt this was a good omen and that their Christmas present would be the return of […]
Hello Everyone! My name is Shawn Woodsmith. I am the coordinator for the Koreshan Ghost Walk. It is that time of year again where I need to start working on Ghost Walk. Ghost Walk is the play we put on at Koreshan State Park, the last weekend in January and first weekend in February. It […]
When the Koreshans moved from Chicago to the Estero area in the mid-1890s, they brought with them fifteen boxcars of goods and personal property, including a rare Steinway piano. (more…)
The Koreshan Unity began in the 1870s in New York, where, after God came to him in the form of a beautiful woman, Dr. Cyrus Teed began preaching equality and that “We Live Inside” a hollow Earth. He formed groups of followers in New York City and Moravia and later moved to Chicago Illinois. There, Teed and […]
Interpretive Nature Programs Reservation Forms
The name Estero is Spanish for estuary – where the river meets the sea – and until the 1970s much of the settlement and development in Estero was near the Estero River, then called Mosquito Creek. (more…)
