Linda Braden thedilytimes.com
The
Greenback Castle has been called many things: an oddity, a
unique structure built of found materials, a quirky place
with the reputation of being haunted. But for its builder,
Floyd “Junior” Banks, it’s a living sermon on the end times
as predicted in the Bible, and he’s a latter-day prophet
warning people of the upcoming destruction while there’s
still time to save their souls.
Banks,
who calls the castle “Fortress of Faith” after a visitor
coined the term years ago, is as colorful as the structure
he started building almost three decades earlier from
discarded materials he found or were donated by friends. Now
75 and with a mane of white hair and an urgency to spread
the gospel message, Banks continues to add onto the castle
and generously gives away toys — also found or donated — as
well as produce he grows on the grounds. In addition to the
cabbages and cucumbers in the castle’s garden, Banks has
planted blueberry bushes all around the castle.
“I
love seeing the little kids picking the blueberries,” he
said, adding that visitors are free to take what they
like. “I put a pantry up there,” Banks said. “I’ve got a
little sign, ‘Castle Pantry, free food.’ I just do
anything I can for people.”
In the past year, almost 7,000 visitors have toured the castle, Banks said. “When you look at the visitors’ book, they’s one page that’s got nine out-of-state cars on it. That’s a record. That’s the most cars from out of state that’s been on one page.”
Some international visitors, from Russia, Canada and
even the Ukraine, have been logged into the book, he
said.
No
admission fee is charged, but a donation box is set up
for those who want to help out.
The building
The building itself spans more than 200 feet and is
25 feet high. It contains more than 30 rooms, some
with a roof, some without. Visitors will see walls
built of bottles and mortar in addition to those of
cinderblocks and brick, plus an eclectic and
unexpected mix of materials, including more than
40,000 marbles, arrowheads and seashells — whatever
Banks could use. One of the rooms has thrones made
of red brick where Banks invites visitors to be king
or queen for awhile.
He has hand-drawn his interpretation of Egyptian
hieroglyphics — but he said where he adds words
copied from encyclopedias, he scrambles the letters
so there will be no unwitting homage paid to false
gods. “We don’t need that there,” he said.
Cartoon figures, including Bart Simpson, also are
depicted.
Visitors are advised to enter at their own risk, and
the castle closes at dark, both for safety’s sake
and to discourage vandals.
“I’m a one-man crew, and you’ll see a lot of
trash around the buildings,” Banks said. “People
don’t pay no attention to that because the
castle’s so beautiful. Somebody said, ‘Let me
come in here and clean this place up,’ but I
said, ‘Here’s the thing. If you throw my trash
away, I ain’t gonna have nothing to build
with!’”
The castle has received attention from groups
such as bands, paranormal investigators and
filmmakers. Banks is fine with that; anything
that will pique the public’s attention and bring
them to the castle to hear the message is a
blessing in his eyes.
The message
Banks spends from six to nine hours a day on the
castle grounds, working on the building, keeping
up the garden, mowing the grounds and greeting
visitors. He has some help with the mowing and
gardening from family and friends, but he’s the
sole caretaker for this House of the Almighty
and accepts sole responsibility for sharing the
gospel both in spoken word and visually.
Hand-lettered signs proclaim the message, golf
balls spell out “Jesus Christ is King” and
crosses liberally depicted both inside and
outside the castle walls underscore Banks’
conviction that the time for Christ’s return is
nigh.
Banks also speaks of images that began to appear on the castle’s walls in 2003, drawn, he believes, by a divine hand.
“Pictures are popping up everywhere,” he said,
including one that he believes predicted the
COVID-19 pandemic. “This picture popped up four
years ago,” he said. “That building knew about
the virus, but Christ wouldn’t let me interpret
it then.” Banks described the image as showing
an older Asian man with mouth wide open, cheeks
puffed out and lungs expanded. Around his face
is an elderly man with a straw in his mouth. His
interpretation is that a worldwide catastrophic
event would arise in an Asian country, spread by
mouth and affect the lungs. The elderly man is
interpreted as having older people most
affected, and the straw in his mouth shows that
he’s relaxed, meaning that people would be taken
unaware.
Another of the images depicts a dog with
donkey ears with his rear end pressed
against Jesus’ chest. Banks interprets this
to mean that Jesus is tired of being
“dogged” by a “stubborn, unbelieving world.”
Banks said anything scratched out with a
nail on the wall is his doing; the other
images simply appear. He has delineated
these images with black paint to bring them
to the world’s attention. He said, “I’ve
counted 22 of them.”
The Fortress of Faith has been shared
online. “Do you know there’s, like, 100
videos on the castle on the internet?” he
asked, then warned, “Don’t pay no attention
to a lot of the stuff you see on the
internet, because Satan owns a lot of it,
but most of it’s good.”
Groundskeeper
Ask him why he had the idea of building a
castle and he laughs. “I built it because I
wanted to be a king, and to bring in the
ladies. You know if you’ve got a castle,
you’re going to get some ladies, right?” He
said that changed in 2003 when the images
began appearing, and the castle was turned
over to the Almighty. “Now I’m only the
groundskeeper, and I’m glad Christ took it
over.”
He points out the display of paperwork on
studies done at the castle by several
governmental entities that he believes
proves God is a scientific fact. “You know
He’s always been a Bible fact. A lot of
people think that’s a fairy tale, but you
can look at them government documents and
the things that come up on the wall and
things that has happened and going to
happen, and you know they’s an Almighty, you
know they’s another side of life. Ain’t that
something?”
Nonprofit designation
Mary Gregory, a Blount County native now
living in Florida, is in the process of
applying for nonprofit, 501(3)(c) status for
the castle. She’s known Banks since they
were children, growing up on neighboring
farms in Greenback, and is well acquainted
with the work he’s done.
“I told Junior we needed to put the land
that the castle is on into a nonprofit
so it would be saved,” Gregory said. “If
he doesn’t find a way to protect it, it
will be gone.”
She pointed out that not only is the
structure itself unique in that Banks
built it on his own with scavenged
materials, it also serves a bigger
purpose.
“I just see that the root purpose of
that building is to try to get people to
look beyond what everyday life is about
and look at the bigger issues of life,
like God and religion,” she said. “I
would hate to see it go away, especially
now that anything to do with
spirituality is being pushed aside.”
Gregory, who has helped several Blount
County organizations such as the Rocky
Branch Community Club, Cades Cove
Preservation Association and the Blount
County Historical Museum obtain
nonprofit status, is hoping for several
more board members before she files the
final paperwork.
“It would be a real shame for the castle
to fade away,” Gregory said. “If we can
get it into a nonprofit, then it would
be protected.”
More Information:
What: Greenback Castle,
also known as the Fortress of Faith
Where: 250 Lee Shirley
Road, Greenback
Open: Daily, 8 a.m.
until dark
Admission: Free;
donations welcome
More: The
Greenback Castle is in the process of
becoming a nonprofit, 501(3)(c)
organization. If you would like to serve
on the board of directors, contact Mary
Gregory by texting 865-256-1712 or email
mary.gregory70@gmail.com.