Koreshan State Park

The former settlement of the Koreshan Unity, a hollow-earth cult that attempted to build a "New Jerusalem" in Florida. Founded in 1894 by Cyrus Teed, who believed he was the Messiah and changed his name to Koresh.

Koreshan State Park in Estero preserves one of Florida's strangest chapters—the settlement of a utopian cult that believed Earth was hollow and that we live on the inside of a sphere.

During an 1869 experiment with electricity, Cyrus Teed shocked himself unconscious. He claimed a spirit visited him during this near-death experience, informing him he was the messiah destined to save humanity. He changed his name to Koresh (Hebrew for Cyrus) and founded the Koreshan Unity organization, teaching that we live not on the outside of Earth but inside a hollow sphere, with the sun, moon, and stars floating at its center.

In 1894, Teed led his wealthy followers to Estero to establish New Jerusalem, which he envisioned as a city of 10 million. At its peak, only about 200 members lived there—but they built an impressive self-sufficient community with a sawmill, print shop, bakery, power plant, and Art Hall where they hosted operas. Thomas Edison and Henry Ford, who wintered nearby in Fort Myers, regularly attended their performances.

Teed died in 1908, dealing a devastating blow to his followers' primary belief: that he was immortal. They expected resurrection. According to accounts, they watched his body for five days as it sat in a bathtub, mistaking decay for signs of transformation into the Egyptian god Horus. They maintained a 24-hour vigil at his mausoleum for 13 years until a 1921 hurricane washed his body out to sea.

The last Koreshan, Hedwig Michel, died in 1982, but visitors report the cult's spirits remain. Shadowy people appear and vanish on trails, unexplained voices echo in buildings, and floating orbs of light have been photographed. Some visitors have experienced nightmares of a large group of shadowy figures with a skeletal male apparition at the center—their leader, still waiting for resurrection.