Mount Carmel Center
Encyclopedia
Branch Davidian
The Branch Davidians are a Protestant sect that originated in 1955 from a schism in the Davidian Seventh Day Adventists , a reform movement that began within the Seventh-day Adventist Church around 1930...
home outside of Waco
Waco, Texas
Waco is a city in and the county seat of McLennan County, Texas. Situated along the Brazos River and on the I-35 corridor, halfway between Dallas and Austin, it is the economic, cultural, and academic center of the 'Heart of Texas' region....
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, led by Benjamin Roden
Benjamin Roden
Benjamin Lloyd Roden was an American religious leader and the prime organizer of the Branch Davidian Seventh-day Adventist Association....
and later David Koresh
David Koresh
David Koresh , born Vernon Wayne Howell, was the leader of a Branch Davidian religious sect, believing himself to be its final prophet. Howell legally changed his name to David Koresh on May 15, 1990. A 1993 raid by the U.S...
. Named after the Biblical Mountain
Mount Carmel
Mount Carmel ; , Kármēlos; , Kurmul or جبل مار إلياس Jabal Mar Elyas 'Mount Saint Elias') is a coastal mountain range in northern Israel stretching from the Mediterranean Sea towards the southeast. Archaeologists have discovered ancient wine and oil presses at various locations on Mt. Carmel...
in northern Israel, it was here that the infamous 1993 Waco Siege
Waco Siege
The Waco siege began on February 28, 1993, and ended violently 50 days later on April 19. The siege began when the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms attempted to execute a search warrant at the Branch Davidian ranch at Mount Carmel, a property located east-northeast of Waco,...
occurred in which four ATF
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is a federal law enforcement organization within the United States Department of Justice...
agents and 83 Branch Davidians died. News reports about the siege called it the Branch Davidian compound.
Name
The name derives from a particular verse from the BibleBible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
, on which the Davidians base their beliefs:
History
In 1935, DavidianShepherd's Rod
The Shepherd's Rod is a message believed and adopted by Davidian Seventh-day Adventists or Davidians, and authored by Victor T. Houteff . Davidians have claimed themselves a part of the Seventh Day Adventist Church but the majority were disfellowshipped because they follow the interpretations by...
founder Victor Houteff
Victor Houteff
Victor Tasho Houteff was a religious reformer and author.Houteff was born in Raicovo, Bulgaria, and as a child baptised as a member of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. As a young man, he was engaged in the mercantile trade...
established his headquarters near Lake Waco
Lake Waco
Lake Waco is a reservoir located within the city limits of Waco, in McLennan County, Texas, which serves as the western border for the city of Waco. The dam is located on the Bosque River. The lake has of water and is currently run by the Army Corps of Engineers. Lake Waco was raised about 8...
, west of the town. After Houteff's death, his widow Florence began selling off parcels of the land, as the neighboring city of Waco began to expand around the edges of the Mount Carmel Community. In 1957, she sold off the last of the property, and bought a 941 acres (3.8 km²) property in the countryside northeast of Waco, christened New Mt. Carmel. Today, Waco's Mt. Carmel Drive runs through the Old Mt. Carmel area, and nearby Charboneau and Hermanson Drives are named after key Davidian families.
In 1962, Florence Houteff announced her intention to disband the Davidian organization, with the assets to be sold off and the proceeds disbursed among her Executive Council. This arrangement was opposed by many members, some of whom enlisted the aid of the Branch Davidians. Most of the New Mt. Carmel property ended up in the hands of the EE Ranch, but the Branch Davidians retained a core 77 acres (311,608.2 m²) around the administrative building.
Salem, South Carolina
Salem is a town in Oconee County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 135 at the 2010 United States Census..-Geography:Salem is located at ....
use the name, as well as a group that broke away from them, in Mountaindale, New York. Some of the Mountaindale Davidians came to believe that Victor Houteff never wanted to abandon Old Mt. Carmel, and in the early 1990s moved back to Waco. They established themselves in a building on Mt. Carmel Drive, constructed by Houteff's Davidians. They are across the street from the Vanguard School, a prep school whose buildings were also originally built by the Davidians. Other Davidian Groups believe that Mount Carmel represented a doctrinal era in the Davidian Seventh Day Adventist Movement
Shepherd's Rod
The Shepherd's Rod is a message believed and adopted by Davidian Seventh-day Adventists or Davidians, and authored by Victor T. Houteff . Davidians have claimed themselves a part of the Seventh Day Adventist Church but the majority were disfellowshipped because they follow the interpretations by...
, an era which is now past.
In 1998, three buildings at the former Branch Davidian compound were destroyed in a suspicious fire. They were the home of Amo Bishop Roden
Amo Bishop Roden
Amo Paul Bishop Roden is the former wife of George Roden, a rival of David Koresh for leadership of the Branch Davidians. After the 1993 fire, she attracted notice by beginning a one-woman reoccupation of the sect's Mount Carmel property...
, wife of former Davidian leader George Roden
George Roden
George Roden was a leader of the Branch Davidian sect, a Seventh-day Adventist splinter group, and the former husband of Amo Bishop Roden. In 1987, he was evicted from the Mount Carmel Center near Waco, Texas by his rival David Koresh...
, and two museums she used to record the groups history. It is important to note that there have been various sects and generations of communities that have resided on and/or used the property east of Waco on Double EE Ranch Road. Not all groups or individuals within these groups share the same religious theology or approach to spirituality. Efforts to memorialize the events of 1993 on the property have been altered over the years since 1993.