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Welcome
to one of America's most fascinating,
entertaining, and mysterious stories!
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The
House of David is a story of great success and
great wealth, of entertainers that
travelled the world over during the vaudeville
times and were considered one of the top acts in
the nation; orchestras that played before
every U.S. President from Woodrow Wilson to
Gerald Ford; baseball teams that not only
had long hair and beards and won most
of their barnstorming games, even against the
pros, but also a team of white guys who
travelled across America with the Negro Leagues,
breaking the color barrier wherever they
stopped, forcing the host teams to play
these touring guests of the House of David, many
times unwillingly, only to learn that they were
some of the greatest players in the country. |
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The
House of David was a group of faithful
Christians, living a life of celibacy, who not
only believed in and lived a communal life, but
also did so at such an extreme that they
generated their own electrictiy, grew their own
food for their vegetarian lifestye, built their
own exquisite mansions which still exist to this
day, built their own elaborate
furniture, operated and entertained the
country with their own pre-Disneyland Amusement Park.
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The
park is where they built the largest miniature
railroad in the world, consisting of over a mile
of track, 11 miniature steam engine trains built
by House of David crafstmen; owned and
operated their own cruise ships, trolley cars,
bus lines, jam and jelly factory, built and
operated the World's largest Cold Storage
Building, the areas largest lumber yard,
America's largest Tourist Court, owned and
operated their very own coal mine, diamond
mines, gold mines, and thus, were some of the
wealthiest entreprenuers that this country had
seen during their heyday.
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The House of David, founded in
1903 by Benjamin and Mary Purnell, is located in
Benton Harbor, Michigan U.S.A. Beginning with a
handful of brilliant minds and hard working
people, the religious colony grew to over 1000
members in its most ambitious era during the
1930's. Having worked the Chicago World's Fair for
two full years (1933-1934) the colony was able to
tap into an endless tourist trade with this
western side of Lake Michigan and after the
World's Fair the traffic coming off the once
famous cruise ships (which used to line the ship
canals of the Great Lakes) was almost more than
even a large city could accommodate.
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From their own hotels, hospital, green houses,
bus line, trolley car line, restaurants, and the
biggest tourist court in America at the time, the
House of David did all they could to capture the
imagination of the American tourists and
sightseers and give them something to talk about
for years to come. Their strong religious beliefs
in long hair and unshaven faces made them talked
about the world over. But because of their belief
in celibacy, there now exists only 7 living
members all in their 80's and 90's. |
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This is a story of
love, romance, sports, inventions, fascinating
journeys, and controversy. Its a place
in time when things were a bit simpler, but
yet the accomplishments of the House of David
stand to this day as possibly some of
the greatest achievements this country has
ever seen by one small group of people,
devoting their lives to God, making their own
way through life, and making great memories for
all of us along the way! We have compiled
this website so you can get just a small
glimpse of their amazing journey, and maybe
learn a little bit of history about the
wonderful place they call "House of
David"! |
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