A few days before the fourth, Dan Bishop put out the word that he would be lighting up the sky via the amazing dragon at Bishop Castle, and that Jim Bishop would be making an appearance in honor of the holiday. Crowds flocked to the castle on the Fourth of July to see the dragon breathe fire, as promised, and visit with Jim.
Dan Bishop lit the dragon at 1:00 p.m., 3:00 p.m., 5:00 p.m., 7:00 p.m., and 9:00 p.m., with each show just getting better and better.
Bishop’s Castle, located at 12705 State Highway 165, Rye, CO, was started in 1969, built by Jim Bishop, and is currently ongoing, still managed by the Bishop family.
In 1959, Jim Bishop, at the age of 15, paid four hundred and fifty dollars for a two-and-a-half-acre parcel of land from the money he had saved mowing lawns, delivering newspapers, and working with his father, Willard, in the family’s ornamental iron works.
Willard and Ma Polly signed for the land deal, as Jim wasn’t old enough to do so himself.
Jim and his dad spent the next ten summers camping on the land and laying the groundwork for a family cabin on the site. In 1967, Jim and Phoebe got married; and, in 1969, at the age of twenty-five, Jim decided it was time to start building a cabin in the mountains they so loved.
With rocks being plentiful and free, he chose to start building a one-room stone cottage.
As Jim built his cottage, family and friends commented that it looked like they were building a castle. Jim heard these remarks so often that by late spring 1972, his imagination was fiercely ignited, and he began telling friends and family that he was going to build a castle.
The construction that began as a one-room stone cottage evolved into what is now known as the Bishop Castle. Three full stories of interior rooms, complete with a grand ballroom, soaring towers and bridges with fabulous views, and a firebreathing dragon greet visitors.
Visitors are always welcome, free of charge, and the castle itself is always open.
In the mid-1980s, a friend of Jim’s gave him a batch of stainless- steel trays which Jim constructed a chimney from, riveting thousands of hammered “scales” he had fashioned from the plates around a steel frame. A burner from a hot air balloon was placed in the dragon’s throat and, by spring, the dragon was complete.
The fire-breathing dragon adds to the uniqueness of Bishop’s Castle and made for a very memorable Fourth of July.
Courtesy Photo