Ah, Greenback Castle aka Fortress of Faith. A place that one blogger called A Religious Fanatic’s Spooky Junk Shrine, other folks say it is a spot that’s haunted and lots of people think it’s just an excuse to rearrange a bunch o’stuff around for attention. Oh, all 3 of things are true for sure but it’s also a heck of a good time to explore…carefully and with your tetanus shot up-to-date.

Floyd “Junior” Banks owned some vacant property about two-tenths of a mile along the dirt road from his modest one-story rusty-roofed house in hilly eastern Tennessee, and, in 1993, at age 46, he began to build a castle on this site. He believed that living in a castle would turn him into a “big shot,” something he desired; improvising as he worked, without “blueprints or diagrams,” he recalls using a “measuring tape” on the (still in-progress) castle perhaps only a dozen times over the past twenty-three years. While Banks once rented out the houses he built, and says he planted 70,000 pine trees on his once extensive land holdings, by now he has “given it all away” (or sold it cheaply) and is “counting [his] change” at the end of every month. – Spaces Archives

Nowadays he gets about 10000 visitors a year to the Castle/Fortress and with his advanced age it’s truly a gamble on whether or not you’ll find Junior working on things. If you do run into him, since he lives in a small home on the back of the property, then he will regale you with some interesting stories and humbly ask for a donation. You can also buy his book here or donate at small box on the property.

Mixed in with all the religious iconography and rocks and hand drawn signs and bits and bobs and, well, junk strewn about you’ll find 13 graves that are actually the real deal! They belong to a variety of animals that were either abandoned nearby* or were owned at one point by Junior. The last grave marker erected was for a dog named Wolf Man…

All of these graves keep with the decorative theme of the property – lots of marbles, glass, rocks and other shiny trinkets.

Do I recommend Greenback Castle? Absolutely! I am not a religious person but I appreciate outsider art like this and I think if you like vernacular works then you’ll enjoy the Fortress of Faith as well.

*Note: This property is on a very narrow dirt road with neighbors very close on either side. There are a number of dogs that are chained, caged and loose, and the neighbors seem to be a bit weary and wary of visitors. I’m not saying this to deter you but I think you should know what to expect. Do not go past the no trespassing signs, I wouldn’t bring my pets out with me and just remember that Junior himself states that you should explore at your own risk!