In 1869, a New York born doctor named Cyrus Teed claimed he had a "divine illumination". In his vision, Teed believed that all spiritual life was unfolded to him by a divine deity. Preaching his new religion, Teed and a group of followers eventually settled in Chicago. In 1894, Teed moved his group to Florida with the hopes of building a settlement.

Teed, who had taken the biblical name "Koresh", planned to construct his "New Jerusalem" at Estero. He had hoped it would become a great city where people could come to practice his religion of Koreshanity. Although Teed believed he was immortal, he died in 1908 at the age of 69.In 1961, the four remaining members deeded 305 acres of their land to the state of Florida in Teed's memory.