Above image is an aerial photo of the Koreshan Unity, Hwy. 41 and Estero Florida, ca. 1958.
In early Estero, author Quentin Quesnell wrote that when the Spanish came to Mound Key near the mouth of the Estero River in 1567, they found the thriving capital of the native Calusa Indians. By the 1700s, the dwindling Calusa had fled to Key West, then Cuba, leaving the area to Cuban fisherman, outlaws, and pirates.
Continue reading “The History of Estero, Florida”
Koreshan State Park, the historic home of the Koreshan Unity, has many unique specimens throughout the remains of its once-famous botanical gardens, including several varieties of mango, lychee and other fruit-bearing trees, eucalyptus, Chinese bamboo and other flowering trees and plants from around the world. Some even from the Ford and Edison Winter estates in Fort Myers. Here are just a few:
Continue reading “A Botanical Tour of Koreshan State Park”
The Koreshans were light years ahead of the rest of the nation and most of the world when it came to equal rights. In the Koreshan belief system, God was both male and female. God reportedly told Dr. Teed, their founder, that women were to be treated the same as men (gender equality) and everyone was to be treated equally (human rights and racial equality).
Continue reading “Equality and the Koreshans”
The Old Store, built by the Koreshan Unity in 1902-1903, faced the Estero River, the best and likely only means of travel there. Going would have been slow. The fifteen-mile trip from Estero to Fort Myers on horseback would have taken all day, depending on the time of year. In the summer rainy season, the trail could be covered with water and muddy. During the dry winter, wagon wheels would sink in the sugar sand.
Continue reading “The Koreshan Unity Old and New Stores”
