Mormon church set to become Florida's largest private landowner (2024)

FAQs

Is the Mormon church the largest landowner in Florida? ›

A higher estimate approximates that the Mormon Church owns nearly 2% of the state's entire landmass, amounting to around 842,000 acres. If this estimate is true, the Mormon Church would be the largest private landowner in Florida.

The Mormon church through its subsidiaries now owns nearly 2 percent of Florida with the completion Thursday of a $562 million purchase of more than 382,000 acres in North Florida's Panhandle region.

The Mormon church stands to own nearly 2 percent of Florida by completing a deal to buy most of the real estate of the St. Joe Co. for more than a half-billion dollars.

Deseret Ranch is owned by Farmland Reserve, Inc., an entity related to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It serves as an agricultural investment and resource to support the Church's charitable efforts. The Ranch pays property and other taxes and does not accept government subsidies.

Deseret Ranch now covers an area 50 by 30 miles (80 by 48 km), with a separate section surrounding Kenansville in Osceola County. The church bought the original 54,000-acre (220 km²) tract in 1950 and over 50 years, the ranch grew to more than 312,000 acres (1,260 km²).

California records show the church owns $67 million in commercial properties, including $15 million in apartment buildings in Stockton and Glendale, a $10.6 million office building in Anaheim and a $4.5 million retail development in Fresno County.

The Lykes Bros. cattle ranch is 337,000 acres in South-Central Florida, making it the largest cattle ranch in Florida.

By any name, the ranch is the flagship cattle operation of AgReserves, a for-profit investment affiliate of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Zions Bank became an offshoot when it incorporated in July 1873. Zion's Savings Bank & Trust Company was established by the LDS Church to take over the savings department of the Deseret National Bank.

Jeff Green, a billionaire thought to be the richest person from Utah, resigned from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, writing in a letter to the church's president that he believes the institution has "hindered global progress in women's rights, civil rights and racial equality, and LGBTQ+ rights," ...

What church owns the most land in America? ›

The case for the Catholic Church: The Catholic Church owns 177 million acres of land across the globe for its churches and schools, as well as owning farmland and forest land.

A new database shows the LDS church is the nation's fifth largest private landowner.

Agriculture. The Mormon Church reportedly owns over 1 million acres in continental America on which it runs farms, ranches, orchards, and hunting preserves. It also owns farmland in Australia, the U.K., Brazil, Canada, Argentina, and Mexico.

The nation's largest private landowners are the Emmerson family in California who own over 2.4 million acres. The bulk of that land is dedicated to timber in Northern California. But the most headline-worthy transaction of 2022 was the Four Sixes Ranch in Texas.

In both cases, both Latter-day Saints (sometimes called Mormons) and others have been helped by food grown on Church-owned farms. Currently, the Church owns 64 farms for welfare (i.e., nonprofit) purposes. Where are these farms located? Most are found within the United States.

State With Most Mormons

The state of Utah is home to the highest concentration of Latter-day Saints in the United States, with an estimated 2,161,526 members of the religious group living within its borders.

DMC is the holding company which owns the tax-paying companies that fall under the umbrella of the LDS Church. DMC's Board of Directors is made up of the church's First Presidency, three rotating members of the Quorum of the Twelve, and the Presiding Bishopric.

Journalists and whistleblowers have estimated the Mormon church's portfolio at around $100 billion.

Deseret Ranches is what we long time Floridians call the Mormon Ranch. At about 295,000 acres, it is one of the largest cattle ranches in the United States. It is 10 times larger than Walt Disney World and has been in Central Florida a lot longer.

The Church Exemption is codified in Section 3(f) and Section 5 of Article XIII of the California state constitution. Section 3(f) exempts from property taxation buildings, land, and equipment that are used exclusively for religious worship.

Who controls the Mormon church? ›

The church's president is its leader and the head of the First Presidency, its highest governing body.

As the home of 35,000 cattle and over 200 Quarter Horses, King Ranch is one of the largest ranches in the world today. In addition to the properties in South Texas, King Ranch also owns and maintains farming land in Florida.

At 29,000 acres, Frank Stronach is the largest private property owner in Marion County, Florida. The Canadian billionaire has plans for a sprawling cattle ranch with tens of thousands of grass-feed, hormone-free cattle.

Hawaii Reserves, Inc.

that manages property for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) in the town of Laie, Hawaii. Hawaii Reserves, Inc. Hawaii Reserves manages more than 7,000 acres of land in the Laie area—most purchased in 1865.

Utah-based faith has at least 1.7M acres valued at $16B, making it the nation's fifth largest private landowner.

King Ranch, largest ranch in the United States, composed of a group of four tracts of land in southeastern Texas, totaling approximately 825,000 acres (333,800 hectares). The King Ranch was established by Richard King, a steamboat captain born in 1825 in Orange county, New York.

Smith's Food and Drug, or simply Smith's, is an American regional supermarket chain that was founded by Lorenzo Smith in 1911 in Brigham City, Utah.

The fund didn't own stock in soda makers PepsiCo or Keurig Dr Pepper, either. Caffeinated sodas are not part of the church's health code, known as the Word of Wisdom.

Marriott, whose namesake founding family is active in the Mormon church, has been putting both the Bible and the Book of Mormon in its rooms since opening its first hotel in the late 1950s.

How much money is the Mormon church hiding? ›

Feds fine Mormon church for illicitly hiding $32 billion investment fund behind shell companies. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints engaged in the scheme for more than 20 years.

Most ex-Mormons leave Mormonism and the LDS Church because specific intellectual or spiritual reasons have led them to a conviction that the religion is false. The foremost reasons are disbelief both in Joseph Smith as a prophet and in the Book of Mormon as a religious and historical document.

Christianity is the largest religion in the United States at 63% of the population, with the various Protestant Churches having the most adherents.

1. Lakewood Church (Houston) Lakewood Church in Houston has about 43,500 weekly visitors. Joel Osteen, whose sermons are often televised, is the pastor there.

Mormon church has $100bn 'clandestine hedge fund', says whistleblower. A former investment manager for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints says that the organization stockpiled more than $100bn in funding intended for charity work but never spent it on such projects.

The center of Mormon cultural influence is in Utah, and North America has more Mormons than any other continent, although about half of Mormons live outside the United States. As of December 31, 2021, the LDS Church reported a membership of 16,805,400.

For Latter-day Saints, who have 16.3 million members, our church's wealth translates to about $6,130 per member, or 161 times the Catholics' money-to-member ratio.

Roman Catholic Church: 70 million hectares

The largest landowner in the world is not a major oil magnate or a real estate investor. No, it's the Roman Catholic Church. According to lovemoney.com, the church owns more than 70 million hectares. An area that is larger than France.

Who is the largest landowner in the United States? ›

1. EMMERSON FAMILY. The nation's largest private landowners, California's Emmerson family, are a prime example of this trend. Through their Sierra Pacific Industries, the Emmersons increased their landholdings by more than 100 square miles to over 2.4 million acres.

The largest real estate company in the USA is Coldwell Banker. Founded in 1906, Coldwell Banker has over 100 years of experience buying and selling homes that they share with the people they work for. It has a total of 3000 offices and even exists in more than 49 countries.

People own most farmland. Some 2.6 million owners are individuals or families, and they own more than two thirds of all farm acreage. Fewer than 32,500 non family held corpor ations own farmland, and they own less than 5 percent of all U.S. farmland.

Tuttle Farm, now known as Tender Crop, has often been referred to as the oldest family-owned farm in the United States; however, this claim has been challenged. The Shirley Plantation in Charles City, Virginia, was founded in 1613 and has been in operation since 1638.

A higher estimate approximates that the Mormon Church owns nearly 2% of the state's entire landmass, amounting to around 842,000 acres. If this estimate is true, the Mormon Church would be the largest private landowner in Florida.

The largest denomination within the contemporary movement is the LDS Church, with approximately 17 million members. It is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, and uses the term Latter-day Saints to describe itself and its members (note the hyphenation and variation in capitalization usage).

Another firm, Deseret Cattle and Citrus, which is responsible for ranch operations, is a division of AgReserves. The addition of St. Joe's 382,834 acres brings the church's Florida holdings to 672,834 acres, or almost 2 percent of the state's land mass.

1. State of Florida. The State of Florida is the largest landowner in the state, with over 12 million acres of land.

A new database shows the LDS church is the nation's fifth largest private landowner.

Also Known as the Mormon Ranch. Deseret Ranches is what we long time Floridians call the Mormon Ranch. At about 295,000 acres, it is one of the largest cattle ranches in the United States. It is 10 times larger than Walt Disney World and has been in Central Florida a lot longer.

How much land is owned by the Mormon church? ›

The Mormon Church reportedly owns over 1 million acres in continental America on which it runs farms, ranches, orchards, and hunting preserves.

Lykes Ranch

Their cattle ranch is 337,000 acres in South-Central Florida, making it the largest cattle ranch in Florida, as well as one of the largest in the country.

The 2022 Land Report 100, compiled each year by The Land Report magazine, released its annual list of landowners who own the most acres in the United States. The nation's largest private landowners are the Emmerson family in California who own over 2.4 million acres.

Journalists and whistleblowers have estimated the Mormon church's portfolio at around $100 billion.

The million-square-foot lot is half the size of the remote scrub parcel silent-film comedian Harold Lloyd bought for a movie ranch in the 1920s. He sold it in 1937, and planning began for a temple that would serve the entire state (before other temples came online).

The Salt Lake Temple is a temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. At 253,015 square feet (23,505.9 m²), it is the largest Latter-day Saint temple by floor area.

As the map makes clear, Utah remains the home base of the church—and Mormons have migrated from their initial settlement in the Salt Lake Valley to towns and cities across the Mountain West.