The Garden of Eden in Lucas, Kansas is a fascinating place that attracts visitors with its unique charm and history. The
place was created by Sam Dinsmoor an eccentric civil war veteran and self-taught artist in the 1900s. He built Eden near the town train station, which was how many people traveled to Lucas in the early 1900s. Dinsmoor’s attention to detail shows in every corner of the garden. The Garden of Eden features a series of concrete sculptures and structures depicting biblical scenes, political commentary, and personal beliefs. There are 15 cement trees from 30 to 40 feet tall.
S.P. wrote ” This is my sign- GARDEN OF EDEN- I could hear so many, as they go by, sing out,” What is this?” so I put this sign up. Now, they can read it, stop or go on just as they please.” No one could miss the garden due to its many wonders. A giant Eye of God included a light bulb iris that blinked. The eyes of a horned devil glowed, courtesy of a bulb inside its head. Dinsmoor expected the curious visitors to pay for a tour. When they would just stare from the sidewalk he would nag them through a speaking tube that ran from the inside of his house to the mouth of one of his angel statues.
After Dinsmoor passed away, his second wife who was once his teenage housekeeper before the 80 year old impregnated her, quickly remarried and took to selling the property so she could pay off her taxes. One of the future owners was offering $100 to anyone who bulldozed it. According to Mary Ann Steinle, a tour guide at The Garden of Eden, and relative of Dinsmoor, “But no one would touch it”. There was a kind of fear about this place. They were too scared to tear it down. So, the garden sat and frightened the surrounding community, until it was eventually bought and reopened as a tourist attraction in 1969. Now, the people of the town began to accept it and thought of it as a “visionary art”.
In 2012, the Kohler foundation undertook the restoration of the place by clearing trees and vines, and cleaning the artwork to unveil pristine tinted concrete that played beneath years of encrusted lichen and mold. As part of the restoration some of the statues upon the town’s request were removed. In a secluded place, Dinsmoor rests entombed
above his first wife in a concrete coffin crafted meticulously for photo ops, topped with a glass lid. Mary Ann reminisced, “For about 70 years, he still looked pretty good”, while shining a flashlight on Sam. However in the early 21st century the glass came upon cracks, allowing air and moisture in, which made Dinsmoor appear as a greenish blob. Mary Ann stated, “I’ve had some exploitation, but it’s fulfilling his wish. He specified in his Will that he wanted people to come see him, he wanted to be a permanent part of his artwork”.
