Page "Cyrus Teed" Paragraph 1

Cyrus Reed Teed ( October 18, 1839-December 22, 1908, erroneously Cyrus Tweed ) was a U. S. eclectic physician and alchemist turned religious leader and messiah.

In 1869, claiming divine inspiration, Dr. Teed took on the name Koresh and proposed a new set of scientific and religious ideas he called Koreshanity, including a unique Hollow Earth theory that posits the Earth and sky exist inside the inner surface of a sphere.

In the 1870s, he founded in New York the Koreshan Unity, a commune based around his teachings that moved in 1894 to the small Florida town of Estero.

After a peak at 250 residents in 1903 – 1908, the group went into decline after his death and disappeared in 1961, leaving the Koreshan State Historic Site behind.