Koreshan State Park

When I saw the Koreshan State Park on the syllabus I had no idea what it was or where it was. When our class got there I thought it was beautiful how nature was preserved in such an urban environment. But I still had no idea what Koreshan meant until the guide pointed out it was a type of religion created by a man. Personally, I thought the religion ideals were ridiculous and seemed like a communist society. But after the guide explained the time period and how women were seemed like  less than equals, I could understand why the religion became as popular as it did. The guide kept mentioning that the plants around them were mostly not native plants and that most were exotic because the Koreshan's wanted exotic and beautiful plants to look at. I found it interesting that even back then it was possible to get plants from all over the world, such as Asia. I can imagine it must of been an expensive plant at the time if it came from half way across the world. Meanwhile now plants are cheap even if they are exotic. The woman's court house I found most interesting though. The wood was preserved all these years and looked like it was only 20 years old, it fascinated me that natural resources will with stand years of use without becoming damaged. Now a days, we build a strip mall and use it for a couple of years until another is built and that one looses it's popularity and soon becomes abandoned. We are so wasteful, but the Koreshan's and pioneers who came out to Florida used every single piece of natural resources because they were grateful for them. The nature trail was a nice walk that made you appreciate the nature and animals around you. We saw the state butterfly, cabbage palm, bamboo, lynch, and squirrels. Without the Koreshan State Park these animals and plants would have no home and wouldn't give back to nature as they do in the circle of life. It's important to preserve the nature side of this park as well as the historical because the Koreshan's are the people who founded Estero. This is the history of Florida, it's not like in the North East how so much history has happened there it's packed with museums and battle field grounds. Florida is a newer more fresh state that doesn't have many historical sites, and these sites should be preserved and appreciated.