Incredible, amazing, miraculous, astounding… these are all words used to describe the Coral Castle near Homestead, Florida. What is this place, and what is the big deal? You want to know why this is one of the top spots to vacation, USA, well, because it has a wonderful history and a beautiful structure. The Coral Castle in Homestead Florida truly is a wonder to see, which makes this area a great place to vacation. To understand the uniqueness of this vacationing spot, you must first learn about the history behind the Coral Castle.
The story begins with a Latvian immigrant named Edward Leedskalnin in the early 1900’s. Apparently, Ed was engaged to be married to a young woman who had a sudden change of heart, and cancelled the marriage the day before the ceremony. Edward was heart-broken, and left for America to chase the American Dream and make a name for him self. While he never did make a fortune, and his name is relatively unknown, what he did leave us was one of the most interesting vacation spots in the US that has confounded visitors for generations!
After wandering Canada and the US for a few years, Ed decided to settle down. According to the stories however, he was unable to forget his lost love, and in 1920, he began a labor of love that continues to astound researchers and tourists alike. Over a period of 28 years, he moved over 1000 tons of coral rock (technically Oolite Sandstone, a type of fossilized coral) to create a towering structure that stands to this day. And stand it does; when Hurricane Wilma passed through the area in 2005, the billboard directing visitors to the place was utterly destroyed, but the castle remained unscathed!
There is much controversy over how the building was constructed, since much of the work seems impossible for just one man with no modern tools. Some of the blocks weigh over 28 tons, and are twice the weight of the largest blocks in the Great Pyramids of Egypt. The gate alone, for instance, weighs over 9 tons, but swings so easily that a child can open it. The wall surrounding the castle is 8 feet high and constructed of massive blocks weighing several tons each. There are even massive stone arches that Ed somehow managed to hoist onto 20-foot tall walls. Quite incredible, considering that Ed stood 5 feet tall and weighed only 100lbs!
The mystery deepens when one tries to determine how the structure was created. Ed was very secretive, working mostly at night, and he was quite determined that no one should see him working. This quite naturally piqued the locals’ curiosity, but to no avail. There are accounts of him transporting some of the largest stones in a borrowed truck, but since he was alone, no one could explain how he got the stones on and off the truck. Some teenagers who crept into the space at night claim they saw him floating massive blocks of stone through the air, “like hydrogen balloons”, but of course no one at the time took them seriously. When asked directly, Ed would only say that he had learned the secret that allowed ancient pyramid-builders to create their marvelous structures with only primitive tools. Then he would sell you a pamphlet about magnetism and talk about how scientists are on the wrong track, and that nature is inherently simple.
The Coral Castle Alone makes Homestead Florida one of the top spots to vacation in the USA.