S.P. Dinsmoor photo

S.P. Dinsmoor

Samuel Perry Dinsmoor was an United States teacher and eccentric sculptor from Lucas, Kansas. Dinsmoor served in the Civil War and then taught school in Kansas. When he retired in 1905 he began a second career as a sculptor.

Dinsmoor built and moved into a log cabin on a lot that he named the Garden of Eden. The cabin is a ten-room house; the logs are sculptured and painted limestone. Dinsmoor designed his landscape and spent the rest of his life creating the garden, which contains over 200 concrete sculptures. The sculptures and design of the house reflect Dinsmoor's belief in the Populist movement and his religious convictions.

The final resting place for Dinsmoor and his wife is inside the mausoleum in one corner of the lot. As part of a tour, visitors are allowed to view Dinsmoor in his concrete coffin, which is sealed behind a glass wall. Inside the mausoleum is also a double-exposed photo of a live Dinsmoor viewing his deceased body inside the coffin.

The garden is open to the public and is on the National Register of Historic Places. - Wikipedia


“Some people know they are going to heaven and those they do not like are going to hell. I am going where the Boss puts me. He knows where I belong better than I do.”
S.P. Dinsmoor
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