Many surprised travelers have brought their cars to a screeching halt in front of Al Shepperd's front gate. There, on an obscure, winding, farm road two miles from Hunt, Texas, they find a replica of England's Stonehenge towering in front of them.

This massive structure, dubbed Stonehenge II by Shepperd, is flanked by two gigantic heads reminiscent of the sculptures carved out of volcanic rock on Easter Island.

Shepperd, 71, has watched his hobby turn into a curiosity in the Texas hill country.

Although people stop all the time, expecting a "pay-and-see" tourist spot, Shepperd insists that this is simply his retirement home, and the replicas of ancient civilizations are his passion. He builds them with mesh, posts and rebar, which he cuts and bends into any shape he wants.
With the help of neighbor Doug Hill, a tile contractor and builder, Shepperd has constructed a sightseeing delight that "is off the beaten path", yet only a 75-mile drive from San Antonio.

What travelers see from Farm Road 1340 is Stonehenge as it originally appeared in 2,800 B.C., before the stones fell and were mysteriously removed. Just as the Stonehenge stone circle looms above Salisbury Plain in England, Shepperd's modern-day landmark rises up out of a
grassy pasture just a few yards from the road.

When Shepperd bought 22 acres of land for his retirement in 1980, his plan was to travel all over the world. And he has - from Alaska to the Holy Land. What he brings home are memories and an interest in ancient cultures.

"We didn't set out to build Stonehenge", he tells travelers. "We were just messing around with a huge limestone rock out in my field. We studied it and decided that it looked funny by itself, so we built an arch."

The arch, 13 feet tall with a 3-foot-wide opening, was placed on top of the rock. Shepperd, who had visited Stonehenge, recognized the similarity between his pillar and what he had seen at the pagan ruins.

That's when he stumbled on the project that has occupied his retirement years.

Together, Shepperd and Hill built hollow, plaster arches, reinforced with the posts, steel rods and metal mesh. The stones were jointed together with holes in the undersides of the horizontal lintels fitting over carpenter's joints projecting from the upright stones. These were cemented together, and then each pillar was set in concrete for stability. The outside was covered with three coats of plaster mixed with graphite. Now, weathered by time, the color of the stone looks very much like that of the original landmark.

The two men spent nine months on Shepperd's wire and mesh masterpiece.