Bishop Castle

The front of the castle with view of towers.
The front half of Bishop Castle from the south. The main tower is over 160 ft (49 m) tall.

Bishop Castle is an "elaborate and intricate"[1] "one-man project" named after its constructor, Jim Bishop,[2] that has become a roadside attraction in central Colorado.[3]

The "castle" is located in south central Colorado on State Highway 165[4] in the Wet Mountains of Southern Colorado in the San Isabel National Forest, southwest of Pueblo, Colorado.[5]

Overview

Bishop bought the land for the site for $450,[6] and construction on what was originally intended to be a family project to build a cottage[7] started in 1969 when he was fifteen.[8] After Bishop surrounded the cottage with rocks, several neighbors noted that the structure looked something like a castle. Bishop took this into consideration and soon began building his castle.

According to Roadsideamerica, "for most" of the 40 years he has worked on the castle "Bishop was engaged in a running battle with Washington bureaucrats over the rocks that he used," which came from the National Forest surrounding his property. "Bishop felt that they were his for the taking, the government wanted to charge him per truckload." That dispute has been settled.[9] In 1996, he was challenged by the local and state government over unsanctioned road signs that pointed to the site. They settled the dispute by issuing official road signs.[10][11]

The site has become a tourist attraction, and Roadsideamerica.com devoted a chapter to the castle and rated it “major fun” and describing it as, "one man's massive-obsessive labor of medieval fantasy construction".[12] But it also issued a "parent's alert" warned potential visitors that Jim Bishop is “a tough-talking man with strong, extreme beliefs, and sometimes he expresses them bluntly and loudly. If you and your children want to avoid potentially offensive rants (involving politics and race), you may want to steer clear.”[9]

In the winter of 2014-15 a dispute developed over control of the castle after Jim Bishop and his wife Phoebe were both diagnosed with cancer, and David Merrill, who Jim "considered a friend" was made a trustee of Bishop Castle. According to Westword.com website, Merrill turned the site "into Castle Church — for the Redemption, according to the Custer County Clerk and Recorder’s Office".[3] Since then, the Bishops have "spent $20,000 trying to get a clear title to Bishop Castle, and to get Merrill’s name off all paperwork."[3][1]

Images of Bishop Castle
The front half of Bishop Castle from the north. The main tower is over 160 ft (49 m) tall. 
Arched windows with a mountain view inside Bishop Castle. 
A rocky, twist and turn along a soaring tower of Bishop Castle. 
A rubble pile outside Bishop Castle 

References

  1. 1 2 pompia, jon (May 2, 2015). "Controversy invades Bishop Castle". the pueblo chieftain. Retrieved 31 December 2015.
  2. ↑ Ragan, Tom (9 June 2002). "Builder prefers being king of what he sees/Castle is maverick's 33- year labor of love". The Gazette. Retrieved 12 January 2010.(subscription required)
  3. 1 2 3 CALHOUN, PATRICIA (3 September 2015). "RENOWNED ROADSIDE ATTRACTION BISHOP CASTLE UNDER SIEGE IN SOUTHERN COLORADO". Westword. Retrieved 31 December 2015.
  4. ↑ Porter, Mary Jean (April 23, 2006). "Adobe to Steel': Byway exhibit focuses on history's foundation: buildings.". The Pueblo Chieftain. Retrieved 12 January 2010.(subscription required)
  5. ↑ "Ripleys Believe it or not". Reading Eagle. July 11, 1983. Retrieved 12 January 2010.
  6. ↑ Commagreens, Dallas (July 13, 2009). "Jim Bishops Castle". Weekly World News. Retrieved 12 January 2010.
  7. ↑ Owen, Rob (July 30, 2006). "The craziest castle in Colorado: Bishop's vision is a work in progress". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 17 January 2010.
  8. ↑ "From a life's labor, a castle rises, Jim Bishop started his 160-foot-high creation in 1969. He doesn't plan to ever stop building.". Philadelphia Inquirer. July 14, 2002. Retrieved 12 January 2010.(purchase required)
  9. 1 2 "Bishop Castle". roadsideamerica.com. Retrieved 31 December 2015.
  10. ↑ Searles, Denis M. (May 11, 1996). "A Man's Castle Under Siege by Bureaucrats". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 12 January 2010.(Abstract only, purchase required)
  11. ↑ Searles, Denis M (April 28, 1996). "Castle Craftsman Withstands Long State Siege; Colorado: Jim Bishop draws 60,000 visitors a year to his creation in the mountains while fending off assaults by highway and tax officials". LA Times. Retrieved 12 January 2010.(purchase required)
  12. ↑ search on Roadsideamerica.com

Coordinates: 38°3′41.22″N 105°5′39.87″W / 38.0614500°N 105.0944083°W / 38.0614500; -105.0944083

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