Garden of Eden

Unfortunately, I had forgotten to charge my camera’s battery before we left for Lucas, Kan., recently. I had to rely on a disposable point-and-shoot camera for our pictures there.

The town’s signature attraction is “The Garden of Eden”. Hubby is standing in front of it.

Civil War veteran S.P. Dinsmoor began working in Portland cement while he built his home. He first told the Biblical story of Garden of Eden, then Cain’s murder of his brother Abel. He then began to explain his Populist political philosophy in cement.

Murdered Abel is watched over by angels and a demon. The light is in a snake’s mouth. Dinsmoor electrified his house two years before the rest of Lucas got electricity.

Dinsmoor portrayed bankers and the era’s monopolistic trusts as giant octopuses using their tentacles to steal from the common man. His last, unfinished, work shows Labor crucified by preachers, bankers, lawyers and doctors. He built an onsite mausoleum for himself and his first wife. When she died, she was originally buried in the Lucas cemetery. He disinterred her and reinterred her in solid concrete. When he died, he ordered that his corpse remain available for viewing. Tour includes a look at Dinsmoor’s mummy. With our current economic troubles driven by financial “experts’” foolishness, Dinsmoor’s Populist vision continues to resonate today.