Coral Castle - Miami - 2013
May 25, 2013: The Coral Castle , originally called "Rock Gate Park," was built by one man, Edward Leedskalnin, working alone. It took him 20 years to build - from 1920 to 1940. Ed was born in Latvia in 1887 and died in Miami in 1951 - he was 64. When Ed was 26, he was engaged to marry Agnes Scuffs who was 10 years younger than he was. Referred to as his "Sweet Sixteen," the day before the wedding, she called the wedding off because he was too old for her. Hurt by rejection, Ed left Latvia, wandered for several years, and eventually ended up in Florida. Ed was only 5 feet tall and weighed 100 pounds. For unknown reasons, Ed chose to carve a castle of coral in dedication to "Sweet Sixteen." The part of Florida where Ed chose to build the castle is composed of coral, in some places as much as 4,000 feet thick, covered with only a few inches of top soil. This remarkable feat was done by cutting and moving huge coral blocks single-handedly using hand tools. Most of the carvings were done in Florida City, 10 miles south of this location.
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