Bishop Castle

[6] Bishop bought the land for the site for $450 when he was 15, and construction on what was originally intended to be a family project to build a cottage[7] started in 1969.

"[9] According to Roadsideamerica, "for most" of the 40 years he has worked on the castle "Bishop was engaged in a running battle with Washington bureaucrats over the rocks that he used," which came from the National Forest surrounding his property.

[11][12] The site has become a tourist attraction, and RoadsideAmerica.com devoted a chapter to the castle and rated it "major fun" and describing it as, "one man's massive-obsessive labor of medieval fantasy construction".

[13] But it also issued a "parent's alert," warning potential visitors that Jim Bishop is "a tough-talking man with strong, extreme beliefs, and sometimes he expresses them bluntly and loudly.

According to Westword.com website, Merrill turned the site "into Castle Church—for the Redemption, according to the Custer County Clerk and Recorder's Office".

[15] On March 28, 2018, a fire occurred on the Bishop Castle property, destroying the gift shop and a guest house.