I was in Florida visiting my brother the week between Christmas and New Years and while donw there my wife had chosen a few things she wanted to see and do that were not terribly expensive. One of them was called the Coral Castle. Now when she told me this I tried thinking of some way out of it thinking to be pretty lame, however after seeing this place and reading some of the literature that was present I have to say that I am amazed. Now don't get me wrong I think the guy was a little off his rocker, but this was no small task and should be a lesson to anyone with the "I can't" attitude.
Here is a short excert from some of the reading that I saw there.
What makes Ed’s work remarkable is the fact that he was just over 5 feet tall and weighed only 100 pounds. The coral that he worked on was sometimes 4,000 feet thick. Incredibly, he cut and moved huge coral blocks using only hand tools. He had acquired some skills working in lumber camps and came from a family of stone masons in Latvia. He drew on this knowledge and strength to cut and move these blocks.
The castle’s walls and gates prove his private nature. In 1940, after the carvings were in place, Ed finished erecting the walls. The coral Walls approximately weigh 125 pounds per cubic foot. Each section of wall is 8 feet tall, 4 feet wide, 3 foot thick, and weighs more than 58 tons!
If anyone ever questioned Ed about how he moved the blocks of coral, Ed would only reply that he understood the laws of weight and leverage well. He even built an AC Current generator! This all from a man with only a fourth grade education. His incredible feats truly need to be witnessed in person in order to be appreciated . There is no record of anyone observing Ed carving in Florida City or in Homestead. He has baffled engineers and scientists! People have compared Ed’s secret method of construction to Stonehenge and
Here is the page that the above quotes are from, but it is the same material present at the castle.
http://www.coralcastle.com/biography.phpand here is the homepage
http://www.coralcastle.com/index.phpAnyway thought it was something interesting to share.
