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This most ethereal of Florida destinations invites the believer as well as the curious and skeptical..
We've all seen them-commercial psychics advertised on television. Over an ever-present telephone number come the voices of satisfied customers, amazed at the their accuracy. That's not Cassadaga. "Here," explains resident Rev. Nick Sourant, "the feeling begins with the place. If you're here for a purpose, whatever that might be, we'll help you find it. It's that simple."
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Cassadaga, a Seneca Indian word meaning "rocks beneath the water" was established as a Spiritualist community by George P. Colby in 1894. Born in New York in 1848, Colby was told during a seance that he would someday be instrumental in founding a Spiritualist community in the South. That prophecy was fulfilled in 1875 when Colby was led through the wilderness of central Florida by his spirit guide "Seneca" to the future site of Cassadaga. Colby and the followers who joined him at Cassadega belonged to the American Spiritualist Association, a movement that sought to foster communication with spirits and encouraged people to develop their psychic abilities. The movement was founded in the 1840s in Chautauqua County, New York, and eventually spread nationwide.
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In the South, groups of Spiritualists began searching for a site in Florida where they could establish a resort community where Spiritualists from across the country could congregate during the winter. Colby offered them the Florida property he had homesteaded and in January, 1895, he deeded over 35 acres to the newly incorporated Southern Cassadaga Spiritualist Camp Meeting Association. The word "camp" appeared in the organization's name because at the time it meant an annual gathering of religious groups. There are no actual camping facilities at Cassadaga today.
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The Spiritualists were only one of several religious groups to establish Florida communities in the late nineteenth century. Florida appealed to many people because of its relatively untouched landscape, and to religious practitioners as a tropical "Garden of Eden" where they could freely express themselves and develop communities dedicated to their needs. Settlements by the Shakers and the Koreshan Unity were established in the same year as Cassadaga but failed to survive, owing in part to the utopian goals of the organizations' members. Cassadaga is one of the few religious communities founded in Florida during the 1890s to remain in existence to the present day.
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To Learn More:
Cassadaga is located between Orlando and Daytona Beach just a few minutes off I-4.
Directions: From I-4 use exit #54 (S.R. 472), travel west to C.R. 4101 (Dr. Martin Luther King Beltway), then turn right to C.R. 4139, then right again for the short ride into town.
The Camp Bookstore and Information Center is open Monday-Thursday from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 6:00 p.m. Food and accommodations in Cassadaga are limited to the Cassadaga Hotel but are plentiful in nearby Orange City and DeLand.
For more information about the Cassadaga Spiritualist Camp call (904) 228-2880.
For a more detailed written examination of Cassadaga, past and present, see Cassadaga: The South's Oldest Spiritualist Community, edited by John J. Guthrie, Jr., Phillip C. Lucas and Gary Monroe (University Press of Florida). The book is the first serious work to examine the community's history, people, religion and cultural environment.
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