Between Orlando and Daytona, off I-4 near DeLand, there is a village of old wooden houses with signs in the windows: Medium. Healer. Readings Today. This is the Cassadaga Spiritualist Camp, 57 acres chartered in 1894, where several dozen certified mediums live and work, and where a Sunday church service includes a healing with the laying on of hands. It calls itself the Psychic Capital of the World, and nobody has seriously challenged the title.
How it started
George P. Colby was born in Pike, New York, in 1848, and grew up in the wake of the Spiritualist movement, which held that the living could talk to the dead through mediums. Colby was one. He said his spirit guide, a Seneca man named Seneca, told him to go to Florida and found a community. He arrived in Volusia County in 1875 and began homesteading, and in 1894 the Cassadaga Spiritualist Camp Meeting Association got its charter. The first season opened on February 8, 1895, with about 100 people. Colby deeded 35 acres; the camp grew to 57. The name comes from Lake Cassadaga in New York, home of the Lily Dale Spiritualist camp, and means "rocks beneath the water" in Seneca.
What is there
- Mediums. Every medium and healer working on camp grounds is certified by the camp, with a minimum four years to certification. Readings are booked at the Welcome Center and Bookstore at 1112 Stevens Street, or by knocking on doors with a sign out.
- The Cassadaga Hotel. Built 1922, burned 1926, rebuilt by 1928, sold off by the camp in 1933 and now privately run with its own mediums. It is the building with the ghost stories, and it leans into them.
- Services. Sunday services in Colby Memorial Temple include a healing service, a church service, and message work, where mediums deliver messages to people in the congregation.
- The whole district was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1991.
The Devil's Chair
In the cemetery on the edge of town there is a brick bench built against a grave. The legend: sit in it at midnight and the devil will talk to you; leave an unopened beer on it overnight and it will be empty by morning. A camp medium told a local TV station the truth in 2024: the chair was built so a family could sit with their dead, and the beers were drunk by teenagers, himself included. The camp does not love the Devil's Chair. Visitors love it anyway.
Visiting: Cassadaga is about 35 minutes north of Orlando and two hours from Tampa. Readings typically run 30 to 60 minutes; book ahead on weekends. The camp asks visitors to treat it as a religious community, which it is, rather than a theme park.
Is it haunted?
The mediums say no, which is a surprise. Their position is that what people feel is the concentrated energy of a century of Spiritualist practice, not restless spirits, and that the camp sits on a vortex of psychic energy. The hotel's position is that it is extremely haunted and here is a room. Take your pick.
Back to the coast
Cassadaga pairs naturally with St. Augustine's ghost tours, 90 minutes north. From Tampa it is a long day trip; better as a stop between the coasts. Either way, our Tampa guide and Tampa Bay boat tours are the daylight half of the plan.
Questions people ask
What is Cassadaga, Florida?
A Spiritualist camp chartered in 1894 near DeLand, where certified mediums and healers live and give readings. It is a religious community, listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1991.
Can anyone get a reading in Cassadaga?
Yes. Readings are booked through the camp bookstore at 1112 Stevens Street or directly with mediums who post a sign. Weekends book up.
What is the Devil's Chair?
A brick bench in the cemetery at the edge of town. Legend says the devil will speak to anyone who sits in it at midnight, and that a beer left on it overnight will be empty by morning. A camp medium has admitted the beers were drunk by local teenagers.
Who founded Cassadaga?
George P. Colby, a medium from New York, who said a spirit guide named Seneca led him to Florida. The camp's first season opened February 8, 1895.
How far is Cassadaga from Orlando and Tampa?
About 35 minutes from Orlando and two hours from Tampa, off I-4 near DeLand.