How is it possible for a short, 100 pound sickly man, working alone and using only simple tools, to have quarried, cut, trimmed and assembled over 3 million pounds of dense coral blocks to build a castle? And, to have interlocked the stones with exacting precision, some weighing up to 30 tons, without the use of mortar? Called Coral Castle, and sometimes called The Eighth Wonder of the World, this castle was originally located in Florida City in the 1920's, then in the mid 1930's it was moved single-handedly to its present location on a ten acre tract near Homestead, Florida.

The builder's name was Edward Leedskalnin, a kind and gentle immigrant from Latvia who only had a fourth grade education. Yet, he was brilliant. Edward Leedskalnin was a skilled electrical engineer who had done extensive experimentation with electromagnetism. He generated his own electricity and was happy to demonstrate his equipment to his neighbors. Edward wrote five booklets. His first work was Magnetic Current published in 1945. The booklet is Ed's cryptic explanation of the laws of magnetism and electricity that enabled him to build Coral Castle.

Whenever Edward Leedskalnin was asked, "How did you build the Castle?" he replied, "It’s not difficult really. The secret is in knowing how." Edward Leedskalnin would go so far as stating that he could see beads of light on objects that he said were the physical presence of nature's magnetism. He explained that scientists have incorrect knowledge of atomic structure and electricity. He stated that all forms of existence are made up of three components, North and South poles and neutral particles of matter. He claimed to have "re-discovered the laws of weight, measurement, and leverage." Edward Leedskalnin stated that these laws "involved the relationship of the Earth to celestial alignments." Beyond these sketchy explanations, Edward didn't say much.

Ed's brochures about his Castle proudly stated, "I have discovered the secrets of the pyramids, and have found out how the Egyptians and the ancient builders in Peru, Yucatan and Asia, with only primitive tools, raised and set in place blocks of stone weighing many tons!"

Edward Leedskalnin was a very private person who was very reclusive. He was very secretive about his method of operation. He worked only at night. He could sense when people would sneak around at night trying to catch him at work. At such times he would stop his work and would continue only after they left. Nevertheless, some people have reported that they did glimpse him at work. One person claims to have seen the rocks move by themselves. Ed's neighbor stated he saw Edward singing to the stones with his hands placed on their surface. A group of young witnesses claimed to see coral blocks floating through the air "like hydrogen balloons."

Edward Leedskalnin enjoyed giving guided tours of his Coral Castle for which he charged ten cents. When asked why he built the castle, Edward would always reply, "Someday my Sweet 16 will come." At the age of 26, the day before he was to marry Agnes Scuffs, Agnes called the wedding off. However, there is speculation that Agnes was not the Sweet 16 Edward referred to since whenever he was asked about Sweet 16, he would stare into the sky as if in a trance.

As Ed Leedskalnin gave his tours, he would explain each structure in detail. Some of the more incredible of his works was an obelisk monolith weighing nearly 30 tons, twice the weight of any stone in the Great pyramid. At forty feet tall it was taller than the great monolith at Stonehedge. This he quarried and also erected by himself. He carved the huge stones into intricate designs. He created a rocking chair weighing three tons that could be rocked with a finger. He made a spiral staircase from one piece of stone that led to a subterranean refrigerator. Another of his accomplishments was a five thousand pound heart-shaped coral rock table with a red blooming ixora growing from its center.

Many of his stones were aligned astronomically and integrated into a grand architectural plan based on mathematical and astronomical data. He created a thirty-ton telescope towering twenty-five feet tall, perfectly aligned with the North Star. Edward made a working sundial that was calibrated to noon of the winter and summer solstice. It was accurate to two minutes. Another area of his labyrinth contained three 18-ton pieces of coral rock carved to show the moon in the first quarter, last quarter and in full. Edward Leedskalnin also had coral rock carvings of the planets Mars and ringed Saturn, and concentric coral circles to represent the solar system.

Perhaps the most spectacular of Ed's carvings is a huge nine-ton stone door through which he drilled an eight-foot longitudinal hole that was precisely aligned with the stone’s center of gravity. Edward fitted the hole with a shaft resting on an automobile gear, and then installed the door. The door fits within a quarter of an inch of the walls on either side. The door is so perfectly balanced that it may be easily pushed open by a five-year old child using one finger. Today's engineers, using advanced laser and computer technology, would be hard pressed to duplicate this phenomenal engineering feat.

A local contractor was hired to cut a stone from Ed's quarry. Using a diamond tipped power saw and a 600 horsepower crane the contractor had difficulty removing a smaller sized stone. Also, the contractor could not extract the stone by cutting horizontally across the bottom of the stone, but had to break it away to extract it. Edward Leedskalnin cut his huge stones to create the four vertical sides, and then he also cut horizontally across the bottoms to extract the stones.

One night a group of thugs, believing Edward had a treasure hidden in his castle, viciously attacked him, nearly killing him. The attack motivated Ed Leedskalnin to move his Coral Castle, ten miles away, to Homestead, Florida. Edward hired a trucker to help him haul all 3 million pounds of his megaliths. However, when it came time to load and unload the coral stones, Edward always asked the trucker to look away.