Religious Commune Leader
In 1918, Riker returned to the United States and purchased 75 acres (30 ha) of land near Los Gatos outside of San Jose. He used the property to found the religious commune of Holy City, which Riker said he had been instructed to do through messages from God.
Eventually increasing the commune to 200 acres (81 ha), Riker developed it into a road-side tourist attraction which included an observatory, gas station, dance hall, restaurant and penny peep show machines. Along the roadway entering Holy City, Riker placed nine Santa Claus statues and a billboard that read "Headquarters for the World's Most Perfect Government."
In 1929 Riker added a radio station with the call letters KFQU, which broadcast popular programming as well as his personal message. The station closed after two years when Riker's license was revoked for irregularities.
Read more about this topic: William E. Riker
Famous quotes containing the words religious, commune and/or leader:
“Yet the New Testament treats of man and man’s so-called spiritual affairs too exclusively, and is too constantly moral and personal, to alone content me, who am not interested solely in man’s religious or moral nature, or in man even.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Softly now the light of day
Fades upon my sight away;
Free from care, from labor free,
Lord, I would commune with Thee.”
—George Washington Doane (1799–1859)
“A bunch of horsemen curtly asked his name,
Their leader in a different dialect stated
A war was on for which he was to blame,
And he must help them.”
—Philip Larkin (1922–1986)