Working alone, Leedskalnin labored for 20 years – from 1920 to 1940 – to build the home he originally called “Rock Gate Park” in Florida City. The story goes that he built it after being jilted by his fiancée, who changed her mind about marrying him because he was too old and too poor. After wandering around the U.S. and Canada for several years, Leedskalnin settled in Florida City for health reasons; he had been diagnosed with tuberculosis. He began building his coral home in 1920. Then in 1936, when a planned new subdivision of homes threatened his privacy, Leedskalnin moved his entire home 10 miles to Homestead, where he completed it, and where it still stands as a tourist attraction.

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Coral Castle is a stone structure created by the Latvian-American eccentric, Edward Leedskalnin, north of the city of Homestead, Florida at the intersection of U.S. Route 1 (South Dixie Highway) and Southwest 288th Street (Biscayne Drive). The structure is comprised of numerous megalithic stones (mostly coral), each weighing several tons.

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sheephogan > As is noted in Joe Bullard's work, Waiting for Agnes, Leedskalnin was jilted by his 16-year-old fiancée Agnes Scuffs in Latvia, just one day before the wedding. Leaving for America, he came down with terminal tuberculosis but spontaneously healed, stating that magnets had some effect on his disease.

Hoping to somehow impress Scuffs, he spent over 28 years building the Coral Castle, refusing to allow anyone to view him while he worked. A few teenagers, who secretly witnessed his work, reported that he had caused the blocks of coral to move like hydrogen balloons. The only tool that Leedskalnin spoke of using was a "perpetual motion holder."

sheephogan > Working alone, Leedskalnin labored for 20 years – from 1920 to 1940 – to build the home he originally called “Rock Gate Park” in Florida City. The story goes that he built it after being jilted by his fiancée, who changed her mind about marrying him because he was too old and too poor. After wandering around the U.S. and Canada for several years, Leedskalnin settled in Florida City for health reasons; he had been diagnosed with tuberculosis. He began building his coral home in 1920. Then in 1936, when a planned new subdivision of homes threatened his privacy, Leedskalnin moved his entire home 10 miles to Homestead, where he completed it, and where it still stands as a tourist attraction.

sheephogan > It’s estimated that 1,000 tons of coral rock were used in construction of the walls and towers, and an additional 100 tons of it were carved into furniture and art objects:

* An obelisk he raised weighs 28 tons.
* The wall surrounding Coral Castle stands 8 ft. tall and consists of large blocks each weighing several tons.
* Large stone crescents are perched atop 20-ft.-high walls.
* A 9-ton swinging gate that moves at the touch of a finger guards the eastern wall.
* The largest rock on the property weighs an estimated 35 tons.
* Some stones are twice the weight of the largest blocks in the Great Pyramid at Giza.

sheephogan > http://www.coralcastlecode.com/id4.html

Working alone, Leedskalnin labored for 20 years – from 1920 to 1940 – to build the home he originally called “Rock Gate Park” in Florida City. The story goes that he built it after being jilted by his fiancée, who changed her mind about marrying him because he was too old and too poor. After wandering around the U.S. and Canada for several years, Leedskalnin settled in Florida City for health reasons; he had been diagnosed with tuberculosis. He began building his coral home in 1920. Then in 1936, when a planned new subdivision of homes threatened his privacy, Leedskalnin moved his entire home 10 miles to Homestead, where he completed it, and where it still stands as a tourist attraction.