Mysterious, Dog Friendly Coral Castle

The Coral Castle, originally called "Rock Gate Park", is an engineering marvel and its construction in southern Miami is as mysterious as Stonehenge and the Great Pyramids. 

Ed Leedskalnin, a 5 foot tall, 100 pound man, the sole builder of the Castle. 

It is said that in the 20+ years it took him to build Coral Castle, not one person saw Ed actually working and today, his building secrets are still unknown.  Believe it or not, today's location of the Coral Castle is its second location; in 1936 Ed moved the entire Castle piece by piece over 10 miles to where it is today. 

Interestingly, Ed moved it on an old truck bed which his friend pulled with a tractor and though many people saw the blocks of coral being pulled down the streets of Miami, no one ever saw Ed load or unload the truck bed.  When people would ask Ed how he was able to move blocks of coral weighing 120 pounds per cubic foot, he would just say that he understood the laws of weight and leverage.

The Tool Room

We were all interested to see just what kind of handmade tools Ed used to build his Castle.  So many tools were made from car and truck parts.  The wedges he used to break the blocks of coral loose were made from sharpened truck springs and are actually the only tool that left marks on the blocks of coral.  There was also a handmade wheelbarrow, a grinding wheel and even a ladder.

Formations, Furniture and More

The grounds of The Coral Castle abound with all kinds of interesting formations and furniture built out of coral.  There is the Polaris Telescope which is two pieces situated 20 feet apart.  When you line the point of the inner formation, the eyepiece, with the crosshairs of the outer piece, you can see the North Star in the night sky.

There are lots of chairs all along the grounds, one more interesting than the next.  There are several small chairs, a rocking chair and a throne all carved from the coral.  Ed's Reading Chairs are set in a circle so that he could move with the sun for the best reading light throughout the day.  The center chair and footstool are carved from a single block of coral.

We laughed when we found that Ed even built a Bathroom complete with a bathtub.  Ed used to fit it with a wooden plug and fill the tub with water from the well each morning.  By mid-afternoon the water was warm enough from the sunlight for Ed to take a bath.

Ed lived in quarters without modern conveniences above the Tool Shed until his death in 1951.  The property was purchased and is still held privately to this day.  Coral Castle was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.

Mysterious & Dog-Friendly Coral Castle

You may be thinking, "I have heard of this place somewhere before" and you would be right.  Billy Idol recorded the song "Sweet Sixteen" (Listen HERE) about The Coral Castle.  The Coral Castle has also been featured on the television show "Ancient Aliens" (Watch Clip HERE) as well as other shows that delve into the mysteries around us.

If you are ever visiting Miami, I highly recommend you take a dog-friendly visit to The Coral Castle to experience the mystery and wonder for yourself.  There is an entrance fee of $15 per person; dogs can enter free of charge.

Do you like mysterious adventures?  Would you go to The Coral Castle?