utopian geography of Estero, Florida

This thesis explores the landscape and beliefs of a nineteenth century utopian community, the Koreshan Unity, a group who settled the town of Estero, Florida. This research explains the alternative geography of the Koreshans, a worldview that claimed that we live on the inside of a hollow sphere. Their founder, Dr. Cyrus Teed, created this theory and made it the core of a social structure that also supported celibacy and socialism. I also describe the Koreshan Geodetic Expedition, a survey of the earth's curvature, and how it claimed to use scientific methods to prove the earth's concavity. The history, beliefs, and technology of this society are then examined against the landscape to elucidate issues of power and social control.