Coral Castle

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Here are pictures of the Coral Castle. It was built by a guy named Ed Leedskalnin. Ed was one hell of an engineer and a bit of a scientist. He came here from Latvia and ended up settling in Homestead Florida not far from Miami. He built this place from coral all by himself. These coral blocks weighed tons. Nobody knows exactly how he did it. He was motivated by a girl (of course). He called her Sweet Sixteen but her name was Agnes Scuffs and she was indeed 16 years old. Oh Ed. He built it for her but she never even came and looked at it let alone moved in with him. Ed, I guess she just wasn't that into you. He had it set up for kids and the whole deal. Ed died of stomach cancer at the age of 64. I believe Sweet Sixteen was still known to be alive in 1981 but still hadn't come to see it. Poor Ed. Bit of a sucker. Maybe she didn't like him because he was only five feet tall and weighed 100 pounds but I suspect it was because he never had much money and because he was a lot older than her and because he was the original male chauvinist. Let's face it Ed, you never had a chance but good try for sure. He started working on it around 1920 and worked on it until he died in 1951. One day he hung a sign out front that said, gone to the hospital. He died a few days later. Everything he made was functional and extremely comfortable except for the bed he made for Agnes''s mother. Ed was always thinking. Comparisons have been made to both the Great Pyramids and to Stonehenge.

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Photos

Main Entrance
A 3 ton gate for starters. All Ed's tools were rudimentary and hand made.

Overview
This was taken from the part where Ed lived. He was very private but gave tours for 25 cents.

9 ton gate
This gate weighs 9 tons. That is 18000 pounds. Hung it by himself. It can be moved by a child with one hand.

9 Ton Gate
Here I am moving it. Ed had it perfectly balanced. He also had a sundial and a well.

Marilyn and Ed
This is Ed. 5 feet tall and 100 pounds. Even Marilyn is bigger.

Another view
One of the walls. He had carvings of Mars and Saturn and the moon on top of one wall.

Me
With the 2 story section in the background. Ed lived in the top part and had his tools in the bottom part.

Court yard
Inside the courtyard where he had a lot of special furniture made for the bitch...uh I mean for Sweet Sixteen.

Marilyn
In the background is the Polaris telescope. The hole in the top is aimed at Polaris or the North Star.

Lizard
This is a lizard that lives at Ed's. He also had a bed made for his hoped for mother in law and made it very uncomfortable. Smart.

Marilyn and Ed
I am getting a little jealous as Marilyn kisses Ed on the cheek. She felt sorry for him.

Another View
Ed had rocking chairs that rocked effortlessly and beds and bathtubs and even a barbeque all made of coral.

Repentance Room
This is where Ed was going to discipline his kids and his wife. Ed was a staunch chauvinist. Way to go Ed.

Comments

[Camille]

comedy
I haven't laughed this hard since I don't know when.....you MUST consider writing comedy!

[debbie]

wow,, ed was something,, wonder how he knew to build all that stuff.. too bad about sweet sixteen and all.. fun pics and stories,, good job jeff,, marilyn,, you look tan?