KORESH
and the New Jerusalem
Working part-times at
a bookstore really helps me feed my addictions - the reading one, I mean.
A while ago I was looking through Florida Curiosities, and when I had
read the brief section on south Florida, a character's name had come up I
had not heard since reading Donna Kossy's Kooks back in 1996. This
character was one Cyrus Teed, who later changed his name to Koresh. This is
his story, as well as a short trip I had taken to Estero, Florida to see his
new (old) world for myself.
- Koresh Unity founder, Cyrus Teed (aka Koresh) -
First, let me begin with a short history lesson. Dr. Cyrus Teed, a distant kin to Mormon religious founder Joseph Smith, was born in 1839 and grew up in western New York state. He decided not to go into the family business of proselytizing, and instead choose medicine and healing the sick. During the Civil War he joined the Union Army Medical Corps, and later began practicing a blend of orthodox medicine, herbal remedies and homeopathic studies known as "Eclectical Medicine". He graduated Eclectical College in NY by 1868. Later that year, Teed began to practice his own science, which he labeled "electro-alchemy" and included bring old alchemical text up-to-date, while using electrical current and polar magnetism. Soon afterwards he had a vision of a woman, "emerging from a sphere of purple and golden light", who said he would be the new messiah. He had gained a following (over 200), moved to Chicago, and in 1894 met Gustave Damkohler, who donated to the cult 300+ acres of swampy Florida grasslands. They called it New Jerusalem.
- Property owner, Gustave Damkohler -
In 1898, Koresh, along with member U.G. Morrow, wrote The Cellular Cosmogony which stated, using Teed and Morrow's "proof", that the world was not convex, but concave. So the sky we look at would actually be a ball of gas at the "center" of our world. Their motto for the following years would be, "We live on the inside."
- Cyrus Teed's Cellular Cosmogony Model -
On December 22, 1908, at the age of 69, Koresh died. His followers, believing his teachings of his immortality, laid him out on the stage of the Art Hall (visible behind the globe in the photo above) awaiting his resurrection. On December 27th the body was moved outside, where the body was almost lost during a hurricane. He was laid to rest on Estero Island soon after. His group, under the leadership of his last devotee, Ms. Hedwig Michel, donated the estate to the Florida Parks System in 1961.
That's all I needed
to know. I was hooked. An official kook and his kingdom in south Florida.
I had to see it all for myself, being a lover, and curious connoisseur of
things "kooky". I had to visit this New Jerusalem myself. I asked
my girlfriend if she was up for a quick road trip on our day off. She loved
the idea, so we reved up the motorcycle and drove 200 miles west to visit
Estero, Florida and the state park known as
The Koreshan Unity Settlement.
After about two hours of driving, we gladly paid the $3.25 fee, parked, picked up a handy brochure/park map, got the disposable camera out and began our walk. We couldn't have picked a better day, as it was a cool 75° and not a cloud in the sky.
As you enter the Koreshan sanctuary the first thing you come upon is the Art Hall, where they laid out Teed after his death. It was closed for construction, so we sneak in and my lady took a picture of me laying on the stage as if I were Teed's corpse. Due to the construction all the Koreshan art was removed, so that was the day's biggest, and only, letdown. Actually, another was that a week later the same photo doesn't come out well at all. I tried to fix it in Photoshop, but no use.
Did something - or someone - fuck with that one frame on my entire roll of film? Synchronicity or psychosis? Ooo Eee Ooo.
Across the way, along the crushed seashell paths, was the largest building on the property, the Planetary Court, which was where the seven "high officials" of the Koreshan Unity lived. Of course, each had a corresponding planet; Venus, Mars, Saturn, etc.
Much of the original furniture was still there. Antique dressers, desks, toiletries and beds - except for the mattresses. There was an ancient wheelchair that I so wanted to grab and dash, but was way too big for anyone not to notice some tattooed-freak running off with. Plus, I really am a conservationist , and I wouldn't have wanted the park - and it's patrons - to miss it.
Next was Teed's home, the second largest building on the premises. Inside, a park ranger asks if we'd like to see a videotape on Cyrus Teed's life and the history of the Koreshan Community. I know my Koresh history, but my girlfriend wanted more info than what I had given her, so she wanted to see it. The video is only 10 minutes long - sure, no problem. I might even catch something I did not know about this weird fellow and his visions. And, I did. It ran through what I knew about Teed, but it also gave me a little information on the living quarters, lifestyle of the cult and a history of the surrounding areas, which I didn't know about.
- Cyrus Teed (aka Koresh) and his lover's home -
I asked the ranger what they had started to build on the back porch connected to the house. She explained it was to be an observatory for Teed, but he died before they could finish it. They left it as was, never deciding to tear it down. I guess the memory of what it stands for was greater to them than the eyesore it caused.
- The unfinished observatory in the back of Teed's home -
As soon as we left the house, we headed out back to the original property owner, Gustave Damkohler's home. A small room with everything visible from the outside window; the dresser, desk, bed and even the bed pan. We kept wondering why a man with over 300 acres would live in such cramped quarters? A better man than I, I would guess, but it looks like he died bored and alone.
-
Gustave Damkohler's home... all 8' by 10' of it -
Up next along the
path was the grave of the last member to join the Koresh group, Hedwig Michel,
who also became the camp's last spiritual leader, and donator of the 300+
acres to the Florida park system.
- Ms.
Hedwig Michel, 1892-1982 -
The inscription
reads,
"Be ashamed to die, until you have won some victory for humanity,"
- Ms.
Hedwig Michel, 1892-1982 -
Then I rang the dinner bell, but no one showed up, so we kept taking a look around the grounds.
- Come
and get it! -
After the grave we just walked around the park without any real aim. Passing over a small footbridge to enter Monkey Puzzle Island (not a real island, but an oasis away from the camp) and then into the Sunken Gardens, which had plenty of Brazilian pepper trees and bamboo over-growth, but I wouldn't call it a garden anymore. A hundred years ago, maybe.
Later we took a walk over the seashell paths to the four mounds. These are 10 feet in diameter, about 4 feet high and were placed there to symbolize the four corners of the Earth.
We saw the bakery, which at one time produced 500 loaves of bread per day for members to sell at the Koreshan store. An electric-generating plant, which was built in the early 1900s, and was powered by water - later converting to diesel fuel. The two (small and large) machine shops were built to help fix any problems in the settlement.
We ended our visit
to the Koresh camp sitting by the water in Bamboo Landing, where the Koreshans
would perform shows for passing boaters, before the Art Hall was built. The
dock is now gone, but areas to stop and look across the Estero River are everywhere.
My girlfriend and I sat for a while, until we eyed some animal tracks and
followed them so as to spy on otters, but none were around today.
No raccoons either.
We walked through
the park trails, as you can also camp on the grounds, and a few "un-official
trails" we scrambled trhough, where I collected plant seeds, pine cones,
clam shells, odd leaves and weird rocks. Yes, I know you're not supposed to
do that on government land, but I couldn't care. I'm not destroying branches,
starting fires or stealing wildlife - I'm just picking up broken branches
with moss and fallen leaves.
No big deal. Well, at least not to me.
We decide to leave as the sun begins to set early this time of year, and it's getting a little chilly. I turn to face the Koresh Community, and inside my head I thank them for their wonderful story and letting me visit their history. Truth is, today I have learned nothing and have come away none the wiser, but all in all I had a great day, and I guess I have this kook to thank for it.
As we began leaving the park at around 5 pm, we decide to take Tamiami Trail (Road 41 - an added 45 minutes) home, instead of the highway, just so we can stop off at the United State's smallest post office and snap a photo.
- Bug infested Ochopee, Florida 34141 -
But damn it... it's not fun riding through a cloud of insects on your motorcycle while doin' 60 down a dark swampy road. Well, it kind of is.
After arriving home I
kill off the last photo of my roll of film by taking a photograph the 3 foot
possum, who is living right outside our front door and eats the stray cat's
food ever night.
Nice possum. Come on now... no hissing!
- Three freakin' feet long -
Adel 156, 2003