Coral Castle - A place of Mystery and Wonder - A Tribute to Love or Is It?

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The Builder

Edvards Liedskalniņš (Edward Leedskalnin) was born in Riga, Latvia on August 10, 1887. He grew up poor and mostly uneducated. Edvard was a small sickly child who enjoyed reading but dropped out of school. The rest of his life would remain uneventful until at the age of 26 he was engaged to be married to his love, Agnes Scuffs. Unfortunately for Edvard, the engagement would be broken off the night before by Agnes. Edvard, seeking relief from his anguish, left Latvia for North America.

Edvard would now be known as Edward Leedskalnin. He was a small man at just over 5 feet (1.5 meters) tall and weighing about 100 pounds (45 kg). He worked in Canada, California and Texas, but eventually settled in Florida City, Florida on a small property he purchased in 1918. Edward had developed a case of Tuberculosis and he need to live in a warmer climate. It would be in Florida City where his tribute to the love of his life would begin.

From Garden to Castle

Edward bought a small plot of land in Florida City, Florida, and began making furniture out of the local limestone, known as oolite, a type of coral limestone. He would make tables, chairs, a baby cradle, a fountain, different moon shapes, a bathtub and many other items out of the native Oolite Limestone. In all, the items made in Florida City weighed approximately 200 tons. These items were all made and built by the 5 ft. tall Edward. He lived here making these items until 1937. No one ever saw Edward working. He wasn't a recluse, because he did give tours of his place and artwork, he just did not let anyone see him while he worked making his Limestone Artwork. The belief is that he built all of these items hoping that one day Agnes, whom he called his "Sweet Sixteen," would join him and start a family. She never did show.

In 1937, Edward decided to move his entire 200 ton Garden of Stone Furniture. Edward hired an Industrial mover, had him leave his moving truck, and when no one was around Edward loaded the items onto the truck. The moving company drove his items several miles to the new larger location in Homestead, Florida. Again, Edward had the driver leave the truck, and when alone, he unloaded the 200 tons of items and placed them in his new location. Edward would spend the next several years and 900 more tons of cutting, carving, sizing, placing and aligning in order to finish his master piece, known as Coral Castle.

Edward was in his early 30's when he began, and now was in his 50's as he started the second phase of his tribute to his "Sweet Sixteen." Edward started his move in 1937, and it would not end until 1939 when the final piece was placed in Homestead, Florida. Several people did help in the transport of the items from Florida city to Homestead, Florida, but no one ever saw him load or unload the transport vehicles.

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In this new location, Edward next built 30-50 Ton 8ft. Walls to surround most of his new 10 acre property. These walls were very precisely placed and cut, giving the appearance that these walls were machine cut. These walls helped insure privacy for Edward as he worked. Edward was known to stop work whenever encroached upon. He always seemed to know, and would wait out his unwelcome oglers until they left. No one ever saw him create his any of his masterpieces.


Edward after the move to the new location in Homestead, Florida


Some of Edward's basic tools

Edward installed a 9 ton "Stone Doorway" that could easily be pushed open by a small child. He added a 28 ton 40 foot obelisk, and a 240 ton tower which would serve a his living quarters. During this time, Edward also created sun dials, and astronomical alignments within his castle. After working an additional 900 tons of stone, the 1100 ton Coral Castle was complete in 1940, within 2 years of his arrival to Homestead, Florida. By 1940 Coral Castle was open to visitors for a .25 cent fee. Edward would give tours and explain that the castle was a tribute to the love for his "Sweet Sixteen." For the next several years, while running his tours, Edward made astronomical observations, created several pamphlets on electromagnetism and worked on a perpetual motion device. Then in November of 1951 he got sick, went to the hospital, and died on December 7, 1951.

9 Ton Doorway, Perfectly balanced until it broke in 1986
It was repaired by a local University Engineering Dept.,
then again in 2005, but does not move like when Edward first installed it.
-----To Be Cont-----
10/30/16
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Resources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Leedskalnin
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coral_Castle
http://peterhancock.cos.ucf.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/2013-The-Making-of-a-Modern-Myth.pdf
https://coralcastle.com/whos-ed/
http://www.leedskalnin.com/CoralCastlePhotos.html
http://www.livescience.com/41075-coral-castle.html
Coral Castle: The Mystery of Ed Leedskalnin and His American Stonehenge - McClure & Heffron

picture credits:
Pic 1 - wikimedia.org
Pic 2
Pic 3 - flickr.com
Pic 4
Pic 5 - wikimedia.org
Pic 6 - coralcastle.com
Pic 7
Pic 8 - wikimedia.org