Estero Through the Eyes of FGCU Students

The Department of English at Florida Gulf Coast University and Engage Estero are collaborating on a new project.  College Composition students are writing essays of interest regarding the greater Estero area. To share their work and better inform our readers, we are sharing these essays.  

The first essay is below.  Most area residents know there is a Koreshan State Park in our village but many don’t know the history of what happened over 100 years ago to some of the first settlers in Estero. 

Halloween may be a good time to read about what we might call a spooky religious sect that formed the first Village on the Estero River.  It’s a marvelous history of the late 1800’s, that peaked in 1903 but ended a few short years later with the death of a “divine figure.”

FGCU Articles

Archives and Resources: State Parks Near Estero, Florida

Archives and Resources: State Parks Near Estero, Florida

Archives and Resources: State Parks Near Estero, FloridaThis article is sourced from Florida, Kirsten Travis and Jaden Wheeler, Department of English, Florida Gulf Coast University. Introduction Florida’s state parks are home to some of the most beautiful, diverse,...

Why Red Mangrove Trees are so Important in Southern Florida

Why Red Mangrove Trees are so Important in Southern Florida

Why Red Mangrove Trees Are So Important in Southern FloridaThe second of the FGCU student articles by Tanner Povey and Olivia NeildSouthern Florida, known for many infamous hurricanes, discovered a new way of defending the fragile shoreline with the use of red...

A Little Bit of History of the Korshans 

A Little Bit of History of the Korshans 

A Little Bit of History of the Koreshans Connor Caruso, Grant AllenDepartment of English, Florida Gulf CoastENC 1102: College Composition IIProfessor WrightOctober 3, 2025 During the late 1800s, a man named Cyrus Teed founded the Koreshan Unity, a religious group....