The population in 1950 had increased to about ninety, but it was still at that level in 1955 when Houteff died. It was difficult to recruit new members and keep old members’ faith strong when his prophecy had not been fulfilled. Houteff predicted that the Second Coming of Christ would occur within one year, but that had not happened. The population also grew from the original thirty-seven in 1935 to sixty-four residents in 1940.ĭuring the 1940s and into the 1950s, internal problems arose within the Davidians.

In 1940, the Davidians expanded the compound to 375 acres by buying up property to the west. They also modernized their commune by constructing water and sewage systems, adding electricity and telephone connections. The Davidian Church flourished at Mount Carmel, even thriving during the Great Depression due to the excess farmed crops which they sold at a farmers' market open to the public. In order to cope with this, the Davidians established a commune where they could heal their own sick, teach their own children, run their own community, and farm their own crops, selling the surplus to visitors for any cash they needed. One of the main breaking points with the Adventist Church was that the Davidians believed that contact with the modern world was harmful for those who believed in Jesus’ imminent coming. A few other houses served as infirmaries, dispensaries, and living quarters because this community was designed to be self-sustaining. The main church and administration building housed Houteff, the administration of the church, and the publishing center so that Houteff could continue to publish new editions of The Shepherd’s Rod. The 189 acres that the Davidians bought contained a river, forest area, and a clearing where houses and farms could be built. Houteff gathered a small following in California, and six years after establishing the Davidian Church, Houteff and thirty-seven followers left the state and resettled on a parcel of land near Lake Waco. In response, Houteff established the Davidians in 1929, calling for a reform of life. He began to publish a series of religious tracts called The Shepherd’s Rod, which the Seventh-day Adventist Conference rejected. Houteff, a Bulgarian immigrant, left the Bulgarian Orthodox Church and accepted teachings from the Seventh-day Adventist Church in 1918. Houteff in 1935 about two miles outside of the City of Waco. The original Mount Carmel Center was established by Davidian founder Victor T.

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