Samuel P. Dinsmoor
Encyclopedia
Samuel Perry Dinsmoor was an United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 teacher and eccentric sculptor from Lucas, Kansas
Lucas, Kansas
Lucas is a city in Russell County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 393.-Geography:Lucas is located at at an elevation of 1,489 feet . According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all of it land. It lies in the Smoky Hills...

. Dinsmoor served in the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

 and then taught school in Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...

. When he retired in 1905 he began a second career as a sculptor.

Garden of Eden

Dinsmoor first built and moved into "log cabin" on the lot he named the Garden of Eden. The cabin is a ten room house and the logs are sculptured and painted limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....

. He then designed his landscape and spent the rest of his life creating the garden which contains over 200 concrete
Concrete
Concrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...

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 are inside the mausoleum in one corner of the lot. As part of the tour you are allowed to view Dinsmoor in his concrete coffin sealed behind a glass wall. Inside the mausoleum is also a clever 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.

External links

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