Hidden away on a quiet two-lane highway, right next to San Isabel National Forest, is one of the most interesting features of the Colorado landscape. Built out of stone and iron, completely by hand, and soaring 160-feet into the air is a castle known simply as “Bishop’s Castle.” It is named after its builder, Jim Bishop.
Complete with turrets, dragons belching smoke and fire, it was considered a nuisance by no one, except Custer County. It is difficult to find any trace that there was previously a problem with this amazing structure. However, the life of one man came under fire on numerous occasions, from the Department of Planning & Zoning of Custer County. When zoning did not work, they resorted to harassment, which did not work either.
Jim Bishop purchased the 2.5 acres in 1959, prior to a “Master Plan,” as well as zoning ordinances, and proceeded to work with his father to build a cabin in the mountains. At some point, somebody told him that it looked kind of like a castle, and he got the notion to continue building until it was a castle. (Owen) He applied for, and received permits to remove the stone he used, from the San Isabel National Forest. Sometimes, people passing by the area would stop and they would talk about his construction. According to Mr. Bishop, the trouble began when a representative of a local township inquired towards his building permit. He explained that he did not need a permit from their city, since he was outside of the city limits, and then told them to get off his property before he had them arrested for trespassing. Of course, this infuriated the local official, who went directly to the county. The county was the next to stop in for a visit.
According Mr. Bishop, the county official told them that he needed to submit plans for his structure, prior to its construction. It was a little late for that, and he told them he had no plan anyway. Consequently, the county official told him that he had to stop construction immediately. Fortunately, Mr. Bishop knew the laws fairly well. He was aware that that at the time he began construction, there were no requirements of the kind and chose to ignore the county and continue. This went on for several years; the county drafted zoning restricting the area to single-family residences on 35-acres (now 10-acres). In response, Mr. Bishop built a log cabin next to the castle, moved in to it, and began calling the castle his “art.”
At this point, the small county was helpless and turned to the state for help. It is unclear what measures the state took, but they obviously had little effect. In one instance relayed to me by Mr. Bishop, the state arrested and held him on the property until Federal Land Management authorities could verify his permit to remove stone from the San Isabel National Forest. Their representatives indicated that they had no record of that type of permit. Fortunately for Mr. Bishop, a National Forest Ranger happened to be in the area, had heard what was going on, and stopped in to clear things up. When it was all said and done, the Federal authorities simply shrugged their shoulders at the state and county officials that were there at the time and told them it was their jurisdiction, not the Federal governments, and left.
The county continued to harass Mr. Bishop over the years. There were numerous attempts to hold hearings, which Mr. Bishop would show up for, and answer their questions, but refuse to do anything they asked. His primary argument through all of this was that they were attempting to interfere with his freedom of expression through art. They also attempted to have him arrested for non-compliance with their regulations and zoning. However, according to Mr. Bishop, the County Sherriff refused on the grounds that he had broken no law and that he did not serve the county in such a capacity as to imprison people for creating art, much less violating a zoning regulation that was affected after construction had already begun.
The county was definitely at odds with what to do about Mr. Bishop, but not out of resources. According to Officer Mike Drake of Colorado State, “they had friends at the state level” and began to harass him on the highways, at his business in Pueblo, among other things. Most of these attempts at harassment were petty at best, such as traffic tickets, drunken driving tests, yearly audits on his business books, refusing to renew his business permit. The State Visitor’s Bureau even refused to list his castle in their annual publication, despite the fact that it had become a tourist attraction equal to many of the others in the state.
Through all of this, Mr. Bishop retained his composure as best as was his nature (he has habit of being rather defensive to the point of shouting). The county lost their mind in frustration. They contended that he was a nuisance. His castle was causing disruptions in traffic on his secluded mountain highway. He had inadequate parking facilities, restroom facilities, no insurance; the list is probably a mile long of the things they tried and failed to get him to “cease and desist,” but he just kept building.
These days the harassment has stopped, and the county has given up, is regrouping for another battle, or is just waiting for him to die so they can tear down the structure. Unfortunately, the public outcry over the destruction of his either would probably prevent the later from happening. Besides, it seems more likely that they county has simply given up and finally begun to recognize that this is a genuinely amazing feat and will stand as a monument to the people of Colorado for many years to come. Supporting this theory is the one shred of evidence that could be found tying the county to Mr. Bishop. The Custer County Master Plan, adopted on April 10, 2002 says simply, “Several public campgrounds and hiking trails are located in the Wet Mountain Zoning District, as is Bishop’s Castle, a popular tourist attraction located” between San Isabel and McKenzie Junction along SH 165.” This is definitely a step in the right direction, considering that for the longest time, the county and the state completely refused to recognize the existence of the castle. This is as should have been in the first place. He was hurting no one and was miles from anyone; he was nuisance only to the county, because he would not recognize their right to tell him what to do with his land.
- Personal Interview w/ Jim Bishop 28 July 2004
- Personal Interview w/ Officer Drake 28 Jul 2008
- Custer County Master Plan - 10 April 2002 http://www.custercountygov.com/pdf/Master%20Plan.pdf (accessed 09SEP08)
- Custer County Zoning Map - 06 Mar 2002 http://www.custercountygov.com/pdf/Zoning%20Map.pdf (accessed 09SEP08)
- Owen, Rob. The craziest castle in Colorado: Bishop's vision is a work in progress. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06211/709125-37.stm (accessed 09SEP08)
GGP345 – Land Use Planning
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