When one hears of the place the “Garden of Eden,” he or she may think of a place from the Bible. However, there is such a thing and it’s in Kansas. In Lucas, Kansas (pop. 436) the Garden of Eden was built by Civil War veteran and sculptor S.P. Dinsmoor in the early 1900s as a source of income for him and his family.
A Little History About S.P. Dinsmoor
After Dinsmoor served in the Civil War as a nurse, he went back to his home state of Ohio and joined the Masonic lodge. Later on, Dinsmoor’s Masonic beliefs influenced some of the designs of his statues as he built them. In 1888, Dinsmoor and his family moved to the Lucas area to farm.
Dinsmoor’s Museum And Home
When Dinsmoor retired from farming, he build a house called the Cabin Home that was intended to be a residence for him and his family plus a museum to be as a source of income.
Dinsmoor built the house out of postrock limestone. This kind of stone was used back then in commercial buildings, houses, barns, and such. Dinsmoor had the stone quarried in long narrow lengths, some up to twenty feet long. The stone was then placed with dovetailed corners in the manner of a log cabin. Dinsmoor built the doors and windows in the house such that none of them are the same size or height to add to its uniqueness.
Dinsmoor’s Concrete Garden Of Eden
From 1907 through 1928, Dinsmoor created his concrete Garden of Eden in his own backyard. Dinsmoor welcomed visitors and led tours of the site while the garden was in progress. Dinsmoor even built a small self-portrait statue that his wife could see from the kitchen window so that she would know he was thinking of her. Most of the concrete statues had either some sort of Old Testament biblical reference or populist ideal behind the meanings of the statues.
For example, two of the statues that Dinsmoor built were of the biblical characters Adam and Eve who coincidentally lived in the Garden of Eden in the Old Testament of the Bible. Adam’s loincloth has Masonic symbols on the front of it. But looking at the faces of the statues, there is a resemblance to Dinsmoor himself and his first wife.
The Symbolism Behind The Statues
Due to his populist views, Dinsmoor believed that all people are entitled to equal rights and he portrayed them through his statues. For example, the statue of the Goddess of Liberty represents overcoming inequality in politics and granting all people the rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Similarly, these entitled human rights go as far back as the Enlightenment period.
Another populist view portrayed in Dinsmoor’s statues is the anti-trust of monopolies, especially in businesses during the late 1800s to early 1900s. A good representation of this is Dinsmoor’s hydra or octopus as it’s sometimes called with most of its arms around a globe and one around a man. The hydra represents the business monopolies trying to take over the business world in Dinsmoor’s mind and entrapping the people who get involved.
In spite of the somber messages Dinsmoor tries to get through to visitors, his concrete statues do show the creativity he put into his works. S.P. Dinsmoor was a man before his time in his views and it shows in his art. A recommendation is going out and touring the Garden of Eden and marvel at the concrete works Dinsmoor created. Maybe one can learn something new from Kansas’ own Garden of Eden.
Source:
- S.P. Dinmoor’s Garden of Eden.garden-of-eden-lucas-kansas.com. Accessed Sept. 7, 2010.
Heather Stout - I am a recent graduate from the University of Oklahoma with a B.A. in Broadcast Journalism with a minor in Weather and Climate. I want to ...
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