Editing Cyrus Teed (section)

===Communal leader===

One of Teed's fundamental principles involved the gathering of his most devoted followers into communal living groups.<ref name=Hinds471 /> A first commune was formed in Chicago in 1888. By 1902 a second Koreshan community was established in that city.<ref name=Hinds471 /> Other followers of the so-called Koreshan Unity formed a short-lived community in San Francisco, which lasted from 1891 to 1892. Small church groups existed in other towns.

In 1894 Teed's followers began to congregate in a small [[Florida]] town called [[Estero, Florida|Estero]], where Teed planned to form a "[[New Jerusalem]]." The two Chicago societies, including the group's printing plant, were subsequently shut down and moved to Florida.<ref>Hinds, ''American Communities and Co-operative Colonies,'' pp. 471–472.</ref> The colony was extensively landscaped and bedecked with numerous exotic tropical plants. The Koreshans built extensively, establishing a bakery, general store, concrete works, power plant, and "World College of Life" in the community. They also published their newspaper from the site, called ''The Flaming Sword.''<ref>Hinds, ''American Communities and Co-operative Colonies,'' pg. 473.</ref>

The "golden age" of the Koreshan Unity in Estero was 1903 to 1908, when they had over 250 residents and incorporated the town, its territory embracing some 110 square miles — the fifth largest area of any city in the United States at the time.<ref>Hinds, ''American Communities and Co-operative Colonies,'' pg. 472.</ref>

They tried to run several candidates for county government against the local Democratic Party, but were never successful.