Leisure City  

 Sundial: 814
State/Province:  Florida Country:  USA
Dial Type:  Obelisk or Vertical Gnomon Condition:  Excellent
  Latitude and Longitude: 25° 30.020' N  80° 26.698' W
Location:
  • 28655 South Dixie Highway next to US 1 at the intersection with SW 157th Avenue

    Privately operated tourist attraction, open 8 am to 6 pm, 7 days a week. Admission is $15 adults, $12 seniors, $7 ages 7-12 and free if under 7.
 
Description:
  • Amid the many coral blocks (oolitic limestone rock) carved by eccentric Edward Leedskalnin (1887-1951) is a huge monolithic sundial. The gnomon is a horizontal L-shaped piece of iron fastened to the north corner of a limestone block about 8 feet high, weighing about 15 short-tons. Below the gnomon, carved into a second block of limestone is a portion of a hemisphere, smoothly filled in with concrete. Drawn on the hemisphere are analemma shaped hour and half-hour lines from 9am to 4pm. You can read the time with an accuracy of about two-minutes.

    The dial construction date is based on Leedskalnin book "Magnetic Current" published in 1945 which explains his interest in alignments of earth and moon and that his book is the culmination of two years of experiments with magnets and electricity.
 
General Information:
  • Owner: Coral Castle Park
  • Designer: Edward Leedskalnin
  • Builder: Edward Leedskalnin
  • Construction Date: 1943
 
References: Web Links:
  • YouTube videos of the dial can be found at:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2mX87fJv9E
    (the analemma is described with great mystery. Obviously the videographer does not know the basics about gnomonic sundials)

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzeq4e_jky8
    (this video shows the basic sundial, but many of the comments are pseudo-science)

Last Revised: 2016-01-07 12:34