Image Number

Rights

Collection

Geographic Term

Subject Term

Corporate Subject

Physical Description

General Note

The rectilineator instrument was used to create a straight measuring line and 'prove' the earth is concave.

Dr. Cyrus R. Teed's utopian community of 200 followers began relocating from Chicago, Illinois to Florida in 1894. Dr. Teed took the name "Koresh," the Hebrew translation for Cyrus, meaning shepherd. The colonists believed that the entire universe existed within a giant, hollow sphere. The Koreshans built and operated a printing facility, boat works, cement works, sawmill, bakery, store and hostelry. After the death of Dr. Teed in 1908 at the age of 69, membership of his religious group began to decline. In 1961, the four remaining members deeded 305 acres of their land to the state of Florida as a park and memorial. The Koreshan Unity Settlement Historic District, a.k.a. Koreshan Unity State Park, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.

Built in 1905, Art Hall is where the Koreshans performed many of their concerts and plays. Currently (2012) the building is used to house art by Cyrus Teed's son, Douglas Teed, along with other paintings done by Koreshan members.