Cassadaga Spiritualist Camp

The oldest active religious community in the southeastern United States, founded in 1895 by George Colby after his spirit guide Seneca led him to this Florida wilderness. A National Register Historic District since 1991.

The Cassadaga Spiritualist Camp, founded in 1894 by trance medium George P. Colby, remains the oldest continuously active Spiritualist community in the southeastern United States. Colby, who had earned a reputation as the "Seer of Spiritualism," claimed a Native American spirit guide named Seneca led him to this specific spot in Florida during a seance in Iowa.

Seneca's vision was precise: a stretch of land with springs and pines that would become a permanent home for Spiritualism. Colby arrived in 1875 and found the waters of nearby lakes had healing powers—he claimed they cured his tuberculosis. On December 18, 1894, the charter was granted, and weeks later Colby deeded 35 acres to the Southern Cassadaga Spiritualist Camp Meeting Association. The name Cassadaga comes from the Seneca word meaning "water beneath the rocks."

Today, the 57-acre historic district (listed on the National Register of Historic Places) houses roughly 44 homes where certified mediums and healers live on land leased from the camp. All residents must complete a minimum four-year certification process to practice.

Cassadaga is said to sit on a vortex—a point of concentrated psychic energy that believers compare to Stonehenge or the Pyramids at Giza. This natural vortex, combined with decades of intense spiritual activity, has made the "Psychic Capital of the World" a mecca for those seeking connection with the deceased.

Visitors report encounters with spirits throughout the camp, including founder George Colby himself, who passed away on the property in 1933 and is buried in the nearby Lake Helen-Cassadaga Cemetery. The Cassadaga Hotel, built in the 1920s after the original 1901 wooden structure burned on Christmas Eve 1926, openly advertises its resident ghosts and offers seances alongside standard lodging.