Bird's Yellow House

Friday, October 4, 2013

Chew on This

There is a little town nearby that has some interesting history attached to it. Before Joel Bean came (we will get back to Mr. Bean) there were a few fishermen and some turpentine stills in the area.

In 1923 Joel Bean came down from Massachusetts and founded the Boston-Florida Realty Trust.

He purchased 1,071 lots from Florida for $62,141. Mr. Bean began to advertise for his "city in the round". There were to be six hexagonal communities, each having a central plaza that would be surrounded by a 100 foot wide boulevard. The communities would be connected by an 80 foot wide thoroughfare.

He called his new community El Jobe-an (an anagram of his name and today is spelled as El Jobean) in hopes its Spanish flair would make it more appealing to future land buyers from the north. He wanted rich northerners to purchase land and build their winter vacation homes in El Jobean.

El Jobean did flourish in the 1920s and it did attract many from the northeast. Mr. Bean also built a hotel, post office/general store and a school. Many visitors stayed at the hotel as they fished in the nearby Myakka River. The hotel closed in 1934. Below are photos of the hotel and post office/general store as they stand today. There is a restaurant in the post office/general store today.

One of the rich north easterners who purchased land and built a winter home in El Jobean was an heiress of Thomas Adams (1818-1905). Mr. Adams was an American scientist, inventor and founder of the chewing gum industry. He would eventually join with the well-known gum maker, William Wrigley, Jr.

Thomas Adams got the idea for inventing chewing gum while working as a secretary to former Mexican leader, Antonio Lopez de Santa Ana (Remember the Alamo!). Santa Ana would chew on a Mexican plant called chicle (when The Colonel and I lived in Texas we would make trips to Mexico and the little children would follow us, calling out, "Chicle lady?" in hopes that we would purchase the chewing gum they were selling, which we always did. It looked exactly like Chiclets but was packaged differently). The scientist in Adams tried to make rubber for tires with chicle but failed. He continued to experiment with chicle and added sugar to it, creating the forerunner to chewing gum that would later be known to everyone as Chiclets (1910).

The Adams Chewing Gum Company also made the famous Black Jack chewing gum, the first flavored gum in America, created in 1871 (never a favorite of mine). My grandpa seemed to always have some in his truck's glove compartment as well as the Teaberry, Beemans and Clove gum (again, not my favorites).

Back to El Jobean. The town was flourishing in the 1920s with 60 homes built and that is when the Adams Chewing Company heiress, Elizabeth Adams, bought some land and built her winter home. The home still stands. It has a Spanish flair so maybe Mr. Bean was onto something with the name of his town.

I would have loved to have gone inside for a tour. I do not know if an Adams still owns the house today.

The 1929 crash affected El Jobean. No one had money to buy land from Mr. Bean and his unique community stopped growing. Joel Bean would die in 1943 and be buried in a nearby town.

El Jobean made a bit of a comeback in the 1930s when some Tarzan movies starring Johnny Weissmuller were filmed there. A family story claims that my Grandad (paternal grandfather) swam with Johnny Weissmuller once.

Little towns with interesting histories...got to love them.

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

The Koreshan Unity Settlement and State Historic Site

At the turn of the century the United States had many communal societies being founded. One such communal society, The Koreshan Unity, was founded in 1894 in Estero, Florida. Estero is just south of us and where Yam went to college. Yam had been to the Koreshan State Historic Site a couple of times before but joined The Colonel and I for our first visit (Yam said she had been there enough times to now be considered an "Honorary Koreshan"). A couple of weeks later The Colonel, Yam, My-Favorite-Father/Mother-In-Law, My-Darling-Sister-In-Law and I visited the site together (maybe I am on my way to becoming an Honorary Koreshan too).

Dr. Cyrus Teed or Koresh (Hebrew for Cyrus) formed the Koreshan Unity in 1886 in Chicago and brought his followers called Koreshans to Estero, Florida in 1894. It was here that a new community was to be established and this new community was to be the New Jerusalem.

The Koreshan Unity was founded upon the ideas of communal living and property. It was to be a Utopia; a life without crime, tobacco, drugs or alcohol. Every member would work for the good of all.

Those who joined the Koreshan Unity were promised security, order and a sense of achievement. Economically, all needs were met and financial security was assured. Religiously, it was a return to Christianity (or as Dr. Teed called it, Koreshanity) as it was "meant to be". Socially, it provided classic education with vocational training. Scientifically, it offered a universe that was finite and understandable. Equality among the sexes was ordained and everyone had a job and place in life.

Those who came to Estero found it a test of their courage and ability. They left their safe, comfortable, mostly upper-middle class lives to begin a new one in a hot, humid, bug-infested wilderness. Their faith in Dr. Teed and his teachings was great. The new Koreshans brought their furnishings, books and even a grand piano to their new home.

At the turn of the century the colony had around 200 members; many coming from Chicago. There was a laundry, machine shop, bakery/dormitory, dining hall, art hall and housing for the seven women who managed the Unity. The house was called the Planetary Court.

Dr. Teed had his own house.

This is the Art Hall where the Koreshans gave musicals, plays and lectures.

Inside the Art Hall was a display of a globe that supported the Koreshan belief of a hollow earth existence. The globe still works today and spins.

There was a Unity school that the children of the Koreshans attended.

The Unity also had its own publishing business. They published books, pamphlets, periodicals and leaflets. It was highly successful and was one of the best printing and binding establishments in the state at the time.

The Koreshan Unity also had a store and a boat building business. They had a large garden that fed them as well as financially supported them as they sold what they grew.

By 1906 the Koreshan community was in decline. There were several reasons why this happened. Estero was incorporated and the officials in nearby Fort Myers did not want to divert their tax revenues to support Estero projects. The Koreshan beliefs made those in nearby areas uncomfortable. Some of the Koreshan members wanted to enter into the local political scene which also made many outside the Unity angry. In 1906, Ross Wallace, a Koreshan candidate for the County Commission, was involved in an altercation with a Mr. Sellers in Fort Myers. Dr. Teed happened to be in town awaiting the arrival of new Koreshan members. Mr. Sellers became violent and struck Dr. Teed several times in the face and head. The marshal did not intervene. In fact, the marshal also struck Dr. Teed. Two years later, in December of 1908, Dr. Teed died from complications of the severe beating.

Dr. Teed told his followers that he would rise up from the dead three days after he died. The followers placed his body in a bathtub and waited to see the miracle happen. Three days passed in the warm Florida climate and still no resurrection took place. Eventually Teed's body had to be buried.

After Teed's death the Unity and its community began to slowly dwindle. The final Koreshan to live there was Hedwig Michel.

Hedwig passed away in 1982 and is buried on the grounds of the Koreshan State Historic Park.

Many people hold their wedding ceremonies at the park. The grounds are beautiful. It was lovely walking around and taking pictures.

There is a large bamboo garden that you can walk through. The bamboo creaks as the breeze blows through the stands.

This is the Bamboo Landing along the Estero River followed by a picture of Estero River.

Many pretty things to see...

There was a sausage tree on the park grounds. It is an interesting tree. The "sausages" hang down from long vines. There were sausages on the ground. Yam is holding one and she said it was a bit heavy.

This is a lovely place to visit and I liked learning about the Koreshan Unity's history. I think my favorite part was the beautiful Planetary Court house. We were able to take a tour inside (lower floor only). The woodwork inside was beautiful and impressive. I loved the built-in bench in front of the stairs.