A BRUEF HISTORY OF CYRUS TEED AND THE KORESHANS

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Credit: s. Table 3.1: Structures at KSHS Built before and after 1908 and their Historical
Significance Structure Date Constructed Historical Significance (Member(s), Function)
(Page 70) of the above credits. Table 3.1.)
1882 Damkohler House (not built by the Koreshans)
1894 Member, Function Bamboo Landing - Image 2
1896 Function Founder’s House (See Photo)
1896 Member, Function Dinner Bell (Dining Hall)
1902 The Old Store (No longer here)
1903 Function Bakery
1903 The Publishing House (No longer here)
1903 Function Conrad Schlender Cottage / Membership Cottage
1904 Member, Function Planetary Court
1904 Members Large Machine Shop
1904 Laundry Hour (No longer here)
1905 Function Art Hall
1905 Function Small Machine Shop
1908 Teed’s Beach House
1908 Teed’s Mausoleum / Also see (Page 135)
1920 The New Store
1926 Gas Station
1940/41 The Koreshan Unity Trailer Park

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The KSHS contains a collection of original buildings and structures, eleven of which
were constructed by 1905. Also, there are some flowers and fauna that was
planted by the Koreshans.

The Koreshans along with Dr. Teed acquired 320 acres of land south of Fort Myers,
Florida part of which would become Estero.
This land area grew to become more than 6,000 - some reports of as much as 7,500 acres
at its height. Some of the land was owned by individual members of the Unity to protect
against legal complications.

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EARLY ESTERO
In 1904 the Koreshans filed to incorporate their community into a regular city. This did
not go well with the local folks, who thought it would increase their taxes. The Koreshans
were able to incorporate 110 square miles into the village of Estero in 1904.

The Koreshans even created a town seal: the sun rising over a
waterscape with a swan floating in the water. (See illustration
on the left). Surrounding this was a laurel wreath and at the
top, a six-pointed star (Seal of Solomon) see page 44. Then
in1907 the State of Florida abolished the village. It was not
until late in 2014, the community officially became the
Village of Estero. Back to (Page 44)

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THE KORESHAN STORES

NEW STORE OLD STORE

The Old Store on the right behind the auto was constructed in 1902 /1903 and the
New Store on the left was constructed in 1920. The Old Store was a three-story
building that housed a dorm for men and room to rent on the top floor, a store on the

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second floor and a storage area for goods on the first. The New Store had a similar
floor plan. However, a restaurant was added to the second floor of the New Store.
The Old Store even had a POST OFFICE that is no longer here. The old store faced
the Estero River and the New Store face a dirt road that would become US-41 when
completed in April 1928.[7]

Both stores existed side by side for a time.
The old store building, structure faced north
and fronting the Estero River. The Old Store
was damaged several times by flooding.
Then in August of 1938, it burned down and
was not rebuilt. The old store, seen here on
your left faced the Estero River the better
means of travel, if not the only means, at the
time.

It was an all-day affair (around 1.5 to 2 miles per hour) to go from Fort Myers to
Estero about 20 miles and was about a 10 to 12 + or - hour horseback ride to Estero.
Of course, this would depend on the time of year.

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During the summer rainy season the trail could be covered with water and was muddy
making it much harder to travel.

The Tamiami Trail officially opened on April 25, 1928. Estero was little more than a
swamp. It took a lot of long hours and hard work to clear land; build roads; plant
crops and creates a community out of the Florida wilderness. It was not an easy life
by any modern standard, but it was a life they were building for themselves.

Roads were little more than
dirt trails between the
neighboring towns. The image
on your left is of one of
several hiking trails here in the
Park similar to, but better
maintained than the roads of
that day.
The picture on your right is a
path through the vegetation on
Mound Key, Florida. Map

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From Estero to Bonita Springs is about 8 miles or, about six more hours. And from
Bonita Springs to Naples, Florida is about 14 miles.
The Estero River is about 6.4 miles long and empties into Estero Bay, an inlet of the Gulf
of Mexico.

It is about 4.5 miles from Estero to the Gulf of Mexico. Up until Florida finished US-41
in the mid-1920s the Estero River was the main way to move people, goods and materials
from one city to the other.

Estero fell between Fort Myers, Bonita
Springs and Naples. Bonita Springs then
was called “Survey” and the stream
running from it, “Surveyor's Creek.” At
the time it became much easier and faster to
use the Estero River to travel to
neighboring cities.

Later the Koreshans built a Gas station, (in
the early 1940’s) across from the store after
US-41which was completed around 1926.

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US-41 then became the preferred way of travel. Mobil Gas Station (no longer here) on
the east side of US-41. By the way, gasoline sold for 19 cents a gallon in 1943. Back to
the Directory

Interior view of Koreshan gas station.

General Note
In 1960, the post office left Estero and was
relocated in a storefront in San Carlos Park,
about 2 miles north of Estero. It later returned
to Estero in August of 1983 into a new facility
on former Koreshan land on Broadway.

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Note: a sign that reads, "Information Fort Myers-Lee County Chamber of
Commerce."
The New Store faced east to the dirt road which would later become US-41. Then the
new store would serve as a general store and post office until the Post Office was moved
to San Carlos Park about three miles north of the Estero River.
Thanks to Hedwig Michel (later discuss). The new store had a restaurant; a Western
Union Office; a store and rooms on the top floor to rent to travelers, sort of the 7-11 and
Holiday Inn of its day.

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A ROOM AT THE KORESHAN MOTEL

This is the interior view of an apartment bedroom above
the Riverview Inn Restaurant in Estero, Florida.

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RESTAURANT

This is the interior view of Koreshan Unity's
Riverview Inn Restaurant in Estero, Florida.

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RIVERVIEW INN RESTAURANT

Photo of Evelyn Horne serving coffee to Billie Parks and Tessie Siegfried at
the Riverview Inn Restaurant in Estero, Florida.

Credit
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THE KORESHAN UNITY TRAILER PARK

The Trailer Park was built in the early 1940’s on the north side of the Estero River near
US-41. The photo on the left is a view of the trailer park main office under construction.
The photo on the right is a view of the same main office at the trailer park today.
Currently, the Trailer Park is being used by resident members of the volunteer staff.

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Photo of children at the Koreshan Unity trailer park in Estero, Florida
in the 1950s.
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THE POLITICS OF THE KORESHANS

The people of Lee County were staunch followers of the
Democratic Party and made the Koreshans sign a
document, or otherwise coerced them to only vote
Democrat in all elections. However, in 1904 the Koreshans
voted for Teddy Roosevelt a Republican. So Lee County
(Fort Myers) threw all of the Koreshans votes out. In 1904
the population of Ft. Myers was around 1500 men, women,
and children. Assuming that 33% were men other than
Asians and American Indians, Remember women were not
allowed to vote until the 1920’s by the 19th amendment to
the Constitution some 16 years later. However, they were
allowed to pay taxes, and this was tantamount to taxation
without representation. Sound familiar?
Black American males were allowed to vote in 1870 by the 15th amendment to the
Constitution. So if everyone voted that would be around 500 votes compared to
Koreshan votes of perhaps 57.

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That was only 95 years ago. This engendered a lot of anger among the two groups and
may have been contributory to the beating of Cyrus (Koresh) Teed and his eventual
death.
The above, beating fueled by a misunderstanding over a telephone conversation, finally
resulted in a fight between several Koreshan men, including Teed, and some citizens of
Fort Myers, accompanied by the town the Fort Myers law enforcement, Marshal Sanchez,
on October 13, 1906.
The Fort Myers newspaper alleged that Dr. Teed, a slight man of 67, 155 pounds, five
and a half feet tall and outnumbered started the brawl. Teed was struck in the head by the
town marshal several times that may have resulted in permanent damage, perhaps
contributing or even causing his death, two years later from his injuries, at age 69.
Also, the Koreshans formed their own political party called the Progressive Liberty
Party to run against the area’s established Democrats in the election of 1906.

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Looking For A Place To Build The Koreshan “New Jerusalem”
MOVING TO FLORIDA
The first trip to Florida in early December 1893 was not without consequence. Dr. Teed
met with a Mr. Whitehead33 who offered to sell land on Pine Island (off the beaten path
even today but close to the Gulf of Mexico) and a way to the Koreshan Unity. The
asking price of $150,000 ($4,500,000 in today’s money) was too much money for the
Unity to pay, so the contingent returned to Chicago.
Before Teed left he conducted a series of lectures and distributed pamphlets. One of the
pamphlets landed in the hands of a German immigrant named Gustave Damkohler.

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33 They met a Mr. Whitehead who showed them the property at St. James City. The cost was too much for the Koreshans, $150,000.00.

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THE GUSTAVE DAMKOHLER COTTAGE
Gustave Damkohler was born on December 13, 1825, in Blankenburg, Germany and was

the first homesteader 34in Estero in 1882.
He farmed along the Estero River and
then used the river to ship his harvests and
goods north via the Gulf of Mexico.
Damkohler was a remarkable man. He
invented a fireless cooker (heat stove).
He gathered a lot of orphans, educated
and took care of them. He was a
landscape gardener and a medical doctor,
although there is no record that he ever
practiced medicine. He moved to
Australia 1846, at the age of 21, to mine
for gold but unable to “Strike it Rich” as a
miner ended up as a cook in a mining camp.

34 http://www.news-press.com/story/life/130-years/2014/12/07/gustave-damkoehler/20068753/

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He was there only a few years and then he returned to Germany until the early1880’s
and then left Germany for America, now around 55 years old, moving to Missouri he got
married to Alma (last name unknown) Alma who was 28 years younger than him (1853
to 1884).

Then hearing that The Government was giving away land, 160 acres, to people willing to
homestead it, he and his wife and two daughters and his son Elwin moved to, and located
in, what would become Estero. He then acquired an additional 160 acres.

However, this enterprise did not work well for Damkohler. The land was hard to clear
and took time and Damkohler was in his mid to late 50’s (around 57) and perhaps, was
not able to do what physically needed to be done to clear the land. Also, taking into
consideration a run of bad luck from cattlemen burning off land that Damkohler had
planted crops on, so it could be used for grazing land for cattle as well as illness of him
and his family (discussed later). The amount of citrus, pineapple, and a few other crops,
Damkohler could produce was limited to just a fraction of the land he was able to clear.
He raised silkworms, honeybees and fished to make a living.

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Then bad turned to worse when the Damkohler family became sick
with some strange illness. In a short amount of time Damkohler
would lose his wife after giving birth to his son and his two
daughters to this disease. Damkohler would travel to neighboring
towns to gather supplies for his family including food for his
newborn son. The trip would take several days, so Damkohler arranged for his neighbor
(mysteriously referred to only as Mr. X) to watch over his family while he was gone.
The trip could take a week or more depending on the weather. Elwin Damkohler recalls
the events in his book: Estero 1892 -Memories of the First Settlers.”
Note: The use of the reference to “Mr. X” rather than a real name could have been for
legal reasons. In that, to accuse a person of murder without proof would be slander.

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Elwin Damkohler goes on to say in his book: “…however, our
suspicions were aroused. It became clear that "Mr. X" 'had an ulterior
motive. He had a friend and he wanted my father to marry this friend.
Father hesitated. He said he needed time to deliberate. Not long
afterward, our baby brother showed signs of illness. Then the other
children became sick. Father could not determine the cause. He called in an English
doctor. Neither could diagnose the ailment. Two months later our baby brother died.
Then my youngest sister and a little while later, my oldest sister died. I was a walking
skeleton. Father and the other doctor were prepared for my death which they felt would
surely come. But I did not die. I overcame the poison which the diabolical "Mr. X." had
introduced into our food. His scheme was revealed two years later. He had poisoned us
children with white lead. His plan was to have father marry his friend before suffering a
like fate. "Mr. X." and his friend would then have 300 acres along Estero Creek worth
about $25,000 at that time. When it became evident that I would live, "Mr. X."
disappeared. Father and I, both exhausted from these harrowing happenings, decided to
take a trip down the coast in our little skiff sailboat for a complete rest.”

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A WAY OUT!
For the next eight years or so Damkohler farmed the land here in Estero. Now around 65,
he ran across some Koreshan pamphlets which were left behind by Dr. Cyrus (Koresh)
Teed on his visit to Pine Island, to look at some property there for the Unity, the
pamphlets fell into the hands of Damkohler. (Pine Island is about 32 miles north of
Estero.)
Damkohler liked what the pamphlets said and thought it to be a good idea to sell or even
give his property to Cyrus Teed and join the Koreshan Unity and he, and his son, now 14,
would be taken care of for the rest of their lives. In response to a letter sent to Dr. Teed,
he and an entourage of his closest followers returned to Southwest Florida to look at the
property in Estero.

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Elwin Damkohler around 20

Damkohler and Teed came to a deal where Teed would purchase

300 acres from Damkohler for $200, possibly the balance of the

mortgage on the second 160 acres acquired by Damkohler,
equivalent to about $6,000 in today’s money, still not a bad deal.

Damkohler held back 20 acres most likely for his son Elwin then

around 14 years old.

THE FLY IN THE OINTMENT
Damkohler at age 53 had a son Elwin
Elwin Damkohler35 (1878 – 1969 passed at age 91)
Damkohler, son Elwin, did not trust the Koreshans and especially Teed which he

believed tricked his father into disinheriting him and was angry at his father for selling

the family property to Teed. Remember the Unity is a commune and all personal

35http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=38422100

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property of the members, upon joining, becomes the property of the Unity in common.
Therefore Damkohler had to give all of his personal property to the Koreshans as well as
the 20 acres he held onto. In return, the Koreshans would take care of him and his son.

It is not likely that this was a trick by Dr. Teed because; it appears that he was not aware
of Damkohler wanting to become a Unity member until after the sale. Under any
circumstance, the deal in the mind of Damkohler appeared to be a good one. He
eventually left Estero for Missouri on May 20, 1899 (Gustave now 74 years old) and

then for Alaska which is where he died and was buried in Juneau.
His wife and three of his four children are buried along the Estero
River. Elwin was angry with his father for selling the property to
the Koreshans and felt that his father had disinherited him. Elwin
had lost his two sisters and infant brother and when only 6 years
old had lost his mother as well. Later, Elwin, now around age 19
or 20 convinced his father to sue the Koreshans to get back the
320 acres. However, Gustave and Elwin settled with Teed out of
court for 160 acres. The big winner was Louis A. Hendry,
Gustave’s lawyer who kept 80 acres as his fee. Elwin moved to
Alaska to mine for gold.

Elwin in his later years

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THE BAMBOO LANDING 125

Before US-41 was completed in the 1920’s the
Bamboo Landing was used as a port for loading and
unloading passengers visiting the Unity and was the
formal entrance to the settlement and
gardens. The Koreshans would give live
performances and concerts on the stage (landing) to
visitors that would anchor their boats in the water to

enjoy the performances. At that time the Estero
River was more passable and two to three
times wider, but because of the mangrove
roots encroaching on the river, which are now
illegal to cut, without a permit, it has become
narrowed to about one-half to one-third of
what is was then.

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Also, it was deeper due to dredging. The river allowed boats up to 42 feet in length to
anchor in the water and to enjoy the live orchestral and theatrical performances put on by
the Koreshans. Some of the more famous visitors to the Koreshan Unity were Henry
Ford, Harvey Firestone, and Thomas A. Edison.
Perspective of the times:

It was in October of 1908, two months before Dr.
Teed's death that Henry Ford introduced his Model
T Ford to the public. The Model T Ford would be
followed in 1927 by the Model A-Ford.

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And it was only five years earlier in
1903 that the Right Brothers flew
the first power driven controllable
aircraft at Kitty Hawk, North
Carolina.

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THE FOUNDERS HOME 128

New Jerusalem

(The gold-colored building
is not the Turret of
Founders Home but an
illustration of Turret similar
to that of his home).

The Founders home was constructed in 1896.
This was one of the homes of Dr. Cyrus R. Teed the founder of the Koreshan Unity. His
other home was located on Estero Island (Fort Myers Beach) where Cyrus was buried in
1908. At the time of Dr. Teeds’ death construction was halted on the home. On the right
side of the building is a partially completed turret. The turret was designed to give the
building a castle-like appearance and allegedly the completed turret was to have a gold
dome at its top.

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Then when visitors would come
up the Estero River to visit the
Unity and disembark from their
boat onto the Bamboo Landing
they would be awed by the beauty
of the home.

The home had arches on the south
and west sides. Because of termite
damage to the home, the home
was renovated. The concrete
arches that surrounded the home
had to be removed in order to
repair the termite damage.

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Living at this same location was Victoria Gratia (Koresh)36, a.k.a. Annie Glosson
Ordway which Cyrus Teed Koresh, a self-proclaimed
Emperor, had given her the title of Empress thus
capitalizing on the male/female concept of God in
corporeal form. Empress Victoria Gratia has always been
somewhat a bit of a mystery. She was in a place of
leadership within the Unity and even crowned Empress
by Teed. Victoria seemed to drop from favor soon after
the death of Dr. Teed. This indicates that her
“popularity” (if we can use that word), never really
amounted to much. Certainly, as long as Teed was alive,
she maintained power, but this was always due to the
fact that Dr. Teed “always” defended her and her
position within the Koreshan Unity. She lacked the

charisma of Dr. Teed and came off as arrogant and full of herself. Still, Victoria always
had a small following, some of whom followed her to central Florida after she left the
Unity. She always seemed to believe that she was the female Koresh, even though she

36 name,
Millner, Lyn. Allure of Immortality: An American Cult, a Florida Swamp, and a Renegade Prophet (Kindle Location 2331 – Chapter 6). University Press of Florida. Kindle
Edition.

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married Dr. Graves, the Koreshan dentist, two years after leaving the Unity. Twelve years
after her departure, she wrote a proclamation to the Unity at Estero offering to return. I
could find no reference that her offer was accepted or rejected, but I could find no
indication that she ever returned. Within eight months after the death of Teed, she was
gone. One gets the feeling that Victoria was always in a precarious position, at least with
many of Teed’s followers.
Part of this is due, in my opinion, to the fact that women, regardless of Cyrus Teed’s
theology or sociology, were still considered inferior even by other women.

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Portrait of Koreshans Henry and Etta Silverfriend with Hattie
Wakeman holding citrus fruit.
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THE PASSING OF CYRUS TEED:

Remember, in 1906; Teed was involved in an
altercation between Fort Myers men and members of
the Unity. He was severely pistol whipped by Fort
Myers town Marshal Sanchez; suffering injuries from
which he never recovered then add to this the heat
stroke he suffered while in the Union Army. He died
on December 22, 1908.

Teed's followers initially expected his resurrection,
after which he and his faithful would be taken up to
heaven as he had predicted in his book:
The Immortal Manhood. Teed’s body was placed in
a custom-made zinc bathtub covered from the waist
down with a linen sheet.

On Christmas day, three days after his death, they
believed that he would raise from the dead in much
the same matter as Jesus Christ.

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They kept a constant vigil over his body for two days, after which time it began to show
signs of decay. Following Christmas, the county health officer stepped in to order his
burial.

The members believing that Dr. Cyrus (Korish) Teed’s would rise from the dead did not
bury him but placed his remains in a small mausoleum, tub and all, near his island home
on Estero Island (Fort Myers Beach).

Members took turns watching the tomb, but Koresh did not come back from the dead.
After a period of time the member watch was abandoned, and sand was placed around the
tomb and carefully smoothed out so as to show Dr. Teed’s footprints should he arise. No
footprints appeared. Then a small boat was anchored near the tomb to give Dr. Teed,
should he arise from the dead, a way to get back from Estero Island to the mainland and
the Koreshan Unity.

A small cabin on the grounds was used to house members who watched over the grave
site and to protect it from vandals. Teed’s body remained in the grave site until a
hurricane in 1921 damaged the site, and Dr. Teed’s body was washed away with only a
few bones ever found. These bones were placed in the Unity Post Office (at that time the
only building with a lock). Unfortunately, the Post Office burned down, and Teed’s
remains were lost.

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The photo is the Koreshans
cleaning up mausoleum
wreckage at Ft. Myers Beach
on Estero Island following the
1921hurricane.

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LA PARITA - Cyrus Teed died in this island home on December 22nd, 1908.

This island home named "La
Parita" was built on the south
point of Estero Island for
Cyrus Teed and his personal
guests, as seen on your left. It
was a two story, large complex
for visitors and their families
and often used for beach
parties, picnics, and special
outings. Guests arrived in
elaborate boats or shallow draft "run boats" built by the Koreshans for water
transportation.

Cultivated coconut palm groves, papayas, mangoes, and pineapples grew near "the
woods" of mangroves, buttonwood, and Australian pines at this tropical setting.

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The Planetary Court - Koreshan Settlement: 1904

A council of women governed the day to day affairs of the settlement
referred to as “The Seven Sisters” and were called the Planetary Council.
The Seven Sisters lived in a house called The Planetary Court.

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THE CUPOLA
The only male occupant of the Court was Mr. Henry
Silverfriend, a brother of one of the Sisters, Etta
Silverfriend.

Henry lived on the third floor (the cupola). Henry was
spoken of as the Protector of the Sisters and would
on occasion speak to the men of the surrounding towns
on matters of business.

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Photos of the Planetary Court 1904.

For more photos of the Planetary Court, please click here.

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THE STAIRCASE AT THE PLANETARY COURT

The staircase found in the Planetary Court home of the Seven Sisters was built by a
ship's carpenter named Steven Chislett (around 1906) using wood call “Dade Heart
Wood Pine.”37 The dark rich color of the wood is natural and no stains were applied.

37 http://pinetreebuilders.com/article.pdf

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THE SEVEN SISTERS (1917)

Photos of the Seven Sisters. Unlike the other female members of the Unity, which lived
in a common dorm, the Seven Sisters had their own home and their own bed chambers
/ Office. Three of the seven lived on the first floor and four on the second floor. See the
following photos:

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PLANETARY COURT - DOWNSTAIRS

Two of the seven bedrooms of the seven sisters in the Planetary Court.

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Why did the Planetary Court as well as all other living quarters have no closets,
bathrooms or kitchens?

No bathrooms no running water and a belief by some it was
wrong to have a toilet in the same place you lived. Outhouses were
used.

However, after the death of Dr. Teed and the decline of the
membership the home was occupied by Hedwig Michel (more on
her later) and she had a bathroom built on the second floor of the
Planetary Court.

The other members of the Planetary Court did not feel it proper to have a bathroom in
the same place you live in and refused to live there. Hedwig had the home all to herself.

No Closets – Closets were taxed as a room.

No kitchens – All members ate in the common dining hall.

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Was their equality of the sexes?
Of course, Victoria was on the road as well, but I have yet to see much evidence of her
or the Planetary Court Sisters running the day to day activities outside the Unity.
I think that Teed believed in the equality of the sexes, but he was also a realist and saw
that the world outside of Estero, at least in the early 20th century, was a Man’s World.
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GEORGE HUNT

As seen in the correspondence between Teed and George Hunt.
When Teed was on the road, he corresponded with Hunt. Hunt
became the face of authority, in the absence of Dr. (Koresh) Teed,
and ran the day to day activities at the Unity.

George Hunt
(1864-1942)

George Hunt was given the responsibility of dealing with the outside world as the voice
of the Seven Sisters and Victoria. George would speak to the neighboring communities
on the business affairs of the Unity.

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Although there is some documentation the Henry Silverfriend brother to one of the
Seven Sisters, Henrietta (Etta) Silverfriend, spoke for the Unity to the world outside in
earlier years.

The relationship between George and Henry: It's my take that Henry was Teed's business
rep and traveled extensively to develop new business interests. He also was the rep for
the ladies of the Planetary Court in local business dealings. George Hunt was, in reality,
the #2 man under Teed and was Teed's right-hand man so to speak. The letters to Hunt
from Teed show that he was a confident and in charge of implementing Teed's decisions
when Teed was traveling. Victoria had the title of being co-leader but George actually
made the wheels turn.

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Who is buried in the grave by the Bakery?
HEDWIG MICHEL
(1892 – 1982 age 90)

The last remaining follower, Hedwig Michel, (age
42). She had learned of the Koreshans in Germany,
and as a Jew had fled Nazi persecution in 1940 and
joined the Unity.

Michel may have been more of an opportunist than a
“true believer”. Nun-the-less, she was a “shot in the
arm” for the failing Unity and pumped into in new
life and giving an additional 15 or 20 years of life to
the failing Unity. She deeded the main portion of the
commune grounds to Florida to form a state park in
1961.

The Koreshan State Park (now known as the
Koreshan State Historic Site) opened in 1967.

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Hedwig Michel continued to live in the building called the "Planetary Court."
She died in 1982 and is the only Koreshan buried within the park because the graveyard
of the members was flooded at the time due to heavy rains.
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Where are the other Koreshans buried?

Two other Koreshan cemeteries are nearby, one of which lies within the gated
community of Pelican Sound
and the other on land owned
by the Audubon Society.
Partly due to the Koreshan
belief in a form of
reincarnation, little, if
anything, was done to care for
the cemeteries. The only
permanent gravestones were
put in by family members.
Hedwig Michel (click to see
her grave marker) was the only
member to be buried on the
grounds of the Koreshan Unity.

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149

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THE BAKERY

The first floor was used as a bakery
where the bakers could bake as many
as 600 loaves of bread a day.
However, usually, they baked from
200 to 250 loaves a day to feed the
members and to sell in the store.
The second floor of the bakery was
used as a dorm for the bakers,
around 6 to 8 in all and also served
as a dorm for the baker’s
apprentices. A room containing the
baker’s ovens was attached to the
main building (no longer here).
Most likely to confine the heat to
the bakery and not the bakers work area. Please notice a corner of the cement slab at the
lower left of the bakery just above the walkway that supported the ovens.

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