Koreshan State Historic Site

State park in Florida, United States

Koreshan State Historic Site

IUCN category V (protected landscape/seascape)

The Planetary Court

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Location| Lee County, Florida, United States
Nearest city| Estero, Florida
Coordinates| 26°26.0′N 81°49.0′W﻿ / ﻿26.4333°N 81.8167°W﻿ / 26.4333; -81.8167
Area| 135 acres (0.55 km2)
Governing body| Florida Department of Environmental Protection

The Koreshan State Historic Site is a state park in Estero, Florida located on U.S. Highway 41 at Corkscrew Road. It was also added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 4, 1976, under the designation of Koreshan Unity Settlement Historic District.

It contains areas of pine flatwoods habitat and the site of a religious colony, the Koreshan Unity, whose last members deeded the land to the state in 1961.[1]

## Flora

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The Koreshans imported a wide range of plant species from across the world, including: an Araucaria bidwillii (false monkey puzzle) tree, which is indigenous to Queensland, Australia, and drops seed pods as large as a football; a number of sausage trees, which are native to Africa and a favored food of giraffes; eucalyptus, mango and other fruit bearing trees; an extraordinary amount of Japanese bamboo that originally hails from the Edison and Ford Winter Estates; and many flowering trees and plants of a wide variety.

## Fauna

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Among the wildlife of the park are gopher tortoises, bobcats, gray foxes, North American river otters and American alligators. Birds spotted include swallow-tailed kites, bald eagles, northern bobwhites and red-shouldered hawks.

## Recreational activities

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Activities include fishing, picnicking, and boating, as well as camping, canoeing, hiking, and wildlife viewing. Amenities include a campground, boat ramp, trails and a picnic area on the Estero River. Kayak rentals from Estero Bay Outfitters on the river are available within a relatively short distance outside the park. Koreshan State Park has 60 campsites, 4 of which are glamping sites. In October 2024, it was confirmed that a section of the park would be converted to a golf course. The Dr. Cyrus Teed Memorial Greens will be a nine-hole executive course.

## Special Events

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Halloween 2024, spend a night in the haunted Planetary Court.

## Hours

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Florida state parks are open between 8 a.m. and sunset every day of the year (including holidays).

## Gallery

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* Founder's House.

* The Bamboo Landing.

* An ornamental bridge.

* Park staff conducting a prescribed burn.

* A gopher tortoise in the park.

* An otter on the Estero River.

* Herons on the Estero.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Florida Memory: State Library and Archives of Florida".

## External links

[edit]

* Timberline Glamping Company
* Koreshan State Park at Florida State Parks
* Esterobay Outfitters

Media related to Koreshan State Historic Site at Wikimedia Commons

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Protected areas of Florida

Federal level

| National parks|

* Biscayne
* Dry Tortugas
* Everglades

|

National memorials|

* De Soto
* Fort Caroline

National monuments|

* Castillo de San Marcos
* Fort Matanzas

National seashores|

* Canaveral
* Gulf Islands

National forests|

* Apalachicola
* Choctawhatchee
* Ocala
* Osceola

National
wildlife refuges|

* Archie Carr
* Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee
* Caloosahatchee
* Cedar Keys
* Chassahowitzka
* Crocodile Lake
* Crystal River
* Egmont Key
* Florida Panther
* Great White Heron
* Hobe Sound
* Island Bay
* J.N. 'Ding' Darling
* Key West
* Lake Wales Ridge
* Lake Woodruff
* Lower Suwannee
* Matlacha Pass
* Merritt Island
* National Key Deer
* Okefenokee
* Passage Key
* Pelican Island
* Pine Island
* Pinellas
* St. Johns
* St. Marks
* St. Vincent
* Ten Thousand Islands

Other national
protected areas|

* Big Cypress National Preserve
* Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve

National Marine Sanctuaries|

* Florida Keys
* Key Largo (1975–1990)
* Looe Key (1981–1990)

National Estuarine Research Reserves|

* Apalachicola NERR
* Guana Tolomato Matanzas NERR
* Rookery Bay NERR

National Wild and Scenic Rivers|

* Loxahatchee River
* Wekiva River

State level

| Parks|

* Amelia Island
* Anastasia
* Avalon
* Bahia Honda
* Bald Point
* Big Lagoon
* Big Shoals
* Big Talbot Island
* Bill Baggs Cape Florida
* Bulow Creek
* Caladesi Island
* Camp Helen
* Cayo Costa
* Collier–Seminole
* Colt Creek
* Curry Hammock
* Delnor-Wiggins Pass
* Devil's Millhopper
* Don Pedro Island
* Dr. Von D. Mizell-Eula Johnson
* Eden Gardens
* Egmont Key
* Falling Waters
* Faver-Dykes
* Florida Caverns
* Fort Clinch
* Fort Cooper
* Fort George Island
* Fort Pierce Inlet
* Fred Gannon Rocky Bayou
* Gasparilla Island
* George Crady Bridge Fishing Pier
* Grayton Beach
* Henderson Beach
* Highlands Hammock
* Honeymoon Island
* Hontoon Island
* Hugh Taylor Birch
* John D. MacArthur Beach
* John Pennekamp Coral Reef
* Jonathan Dickinson
* Little Talbot Island
* Long Key
* Lovers Key
* Mike Roess Gold Head Branch
* North Peninsula
* O'Leno
* Oscar Scherer
* Perdido Key
* Price's Scrub
* Sebastian Inlet
* Skyway Fishing Pier
* St. Andrews
* St. George Island
* St. Marks River
* St. Joseph Peninsula
* Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center
* Stump Pass Beach
* Tomoka
* Torreya
* Windley Key Fossil Reef

|

Botanical garden parks|

* Alfred B. Maclay Gardens
* Dagny Johnson Key Largo Hammock
* Lignumvitae Key
* Ravine Gardens
* Washington Oaks

Lakes, rivers
and springs parks|

* Deer Lake
* Lake Griffin
* Lake June in Winter Scrub
* Lake Kissimmee
* Lake Louisa
* Lake Manatee
* Lake Talquin

* Alafia River
* Blackwater River
* Dunns Creek
* Econfina River
* Hillsborough River
* Little Manatee River
* Myakka River
* Ochlockonee River
* Oleta River
* Suwannee River
* Three Rivers

* Blue Spring
* De Leon Springs
* Edward Ball Wakulla Springs
* Fanning Springs
* Homosassa Springs Wildlife
* Ichetucknee Springs
* Lafayette Blue Springs
* Madison Blue Spring
* Manatee Springs
* Ponce de Leon Springs
* Rainbow Springs
* Silver Springs
* Troy Spring
* Weeki Wachee Springs
* Wekiwa Springs
* Werner-Boyce Salt Springs
* Wes Skiles Peacock Springs

Recreation areas|

* Dead Lakes
* Gamble Rogers Memorial

Museums, historic sites,
and archaeological sites|

* Addison Blockhouse
* Cedar Key Museum
* Constitution Convention Museum
* Forest Capital Museum
* John Gorrie Museum
* Ybor City Museum

* The Barnacle
* Bulow Plantation Ruins
* Dade Battlefield
* DeSoto Site
* Dudley Farm
* Fort Foster
* Fort Mose
* Fort Zachary Taylor
* Gamble Plantation
* Indian Key
* Koreshan
* Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Homestead
* Natural Bridge Battlefield
* Olustee Battlefield
* Orman House
* Paynes Creek
* San Marcos de Apalache
* Yellow Bluff Fort
* Yulee Sugar Mill Ruins

* Crystal River
* Lake Jackson Mounds
* Letchworth-Love Mounds
* Madira Bickel Mound
* Mound Key
* San Pedro Underwater

Preserves and reserves|

* Allen David Broussard Catfish Creek
* Anclote Key
* Cedar Key Scrub
* Charlotte Harbor
* Crystal River
* Disney Wilderness
* Estero Bay
* Green Cay Wetlands
* Fakahatchee Strand
* Hal Scott
* Kissimmee Prairie
* Lower Wekiva River
* Paynes Prairie
* Pumpkin Hill Creek
* River Rise
* Rock Springs Run
* San Felasco Hammock
* Savannas
* Seabranch
* St. Lucie Inlet
* St. Sebastian River
* Tarkiln Bayou
* Topsail Hill
* Tosohatchee
* Waccasassa Bay
* Yellow River Marsh

State trails|

* Blackwater Heritage
* Florida Keys Overseas Heritage
* Gainesville-Hawthorne
* General James A. Van Fleet
* Jacksonville-Baldwin
* Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida Greenway
* Nature Coast
* Palatka-Lake Butler
* Palatka-to-St. Augustine
* Tallahassee-St. Marks Historic Railroad
* Withlacoochee

State forests|

* Belmore
* Big Shoals
* Blackwater River
* Carl Duval Moore
* Cary
* Charles H. Bronson
* Cottage Hill
* Deep Creek
* Etoniah Creek
* Four Creeks
* Goethe
* Holopaw
* Indian Lake
* Jennings
* John M. Bethea
* Lake George
* Lake Talquin
* Lake Wales Ridge
* Little Big Econ
* Matanzas
* Myakka
* Okaloacoochee Slough
* Picayune Strand
* Pine Log
* Point Washington
* Ralph E. Simmons Memorial
* Ross Prairie
* Seminole
* Tate's Hell
* Tiger Bay
* Twin Rivers
* Wakulla
* Watson Island
* Welaka
* Withlacoochee

Local level

| Preserves and reserves|

* Boyd Hill
* Gumbo Limbo
* Moccasin Lake

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