RYE, Colo — A date has been set for the public to honor the memory of Jim Bishop, the man and mind behind Colorado's Bishop Castle.
A conglomerate of steel, stone, cement, imagination, and art, Bishop Castle stands tucked away northwest of the town of Rye off of State Highway 165.
Jim spent 44 years of his life building the historical landmark, starting in 1969 when he was just 25 years old.
“It started out with me and my dad building a stone house and people said the rock looked more like a castle. That’s how the idea started," Bishop told our sister station Denver7 in 2023.
Denver7 asked Jim at the time how one man builds such a thing. “Well, you just build it. A cable and two pulleys,” Bishop explained, adding he would work "morning till dark."
It was a time-consuming job that didn’t leave much time for his family. Bishop also worked for a living at his dad’s wrought iron shop in Pueblo so he could make ends meet, which is why the castle is filled with wrought iron. The castle also has several stained-glass windows.
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Remembering Jim Bishop: How the legacy of the man behind Bishop Castle lives on
“The windows on the second level [come] from building materials, like cement, gasoline and sand. They started getting broken, so I quit doing that. So, if you want a window now, you got to do it yourself or hire an artist to do it,” Bishop said at the time.
A few years ago, Bishop's son, Daniel, took over the maintenance of the castle as his dad aged. Looking back, Daniel said the castle was his dad’s obsession.
“When he was focused on building castles, he wasn’t much fun to go anywhere with because all he wanted to do was be here,” said Daniel.
Daniel said a lot of people doubted his dad over the years, but he drowned out the noise.
“What’s amazing is he survived all of that because most people would just quit under the pressure.” Daniel said.
Decades later, people from all over the world come to the small town of Rye to see the masterpiece Jim spent 44 years working on.
“Nobody else has done anything like this in the world. People come from all over the world to see it. Siberia to Ukraine and the furthest has been the Himalayas,” said Daniel.
On Sunday, the Bishop family announced via the Bishop Castle Facebook page that the memorial service to honor the life of Jim Bishop will be taking place at Bishop Castle on Saturday, July 5.
More details about the service can be found by clicking the link below.
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