Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site
Encyclopedia
Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site, located near Hendersonville
in Flat Rock, North Carolina
, preserves Connemara Farms, the home of Pulitzer Prize
-winning poet and writer Carl Sandburg
(1878-1967). Though a Midwesterner, Sandburg and his family moved to this home in 1945 for the peace and solitude required for his writing and the more-than-30 acres (121,405.8 m²) of pastureland required for his wife, Lilian, to raise her champion dairy goats. Sandburg spent the last 22 years of his life on this farm, and published more than one-third of his works while living here.
The site includes the Sandburg residence, a dairy goat farm (home to the Connemara Farms goat herd), sheds, rolling pastures, mountainside woods, 5 miles (8 km) of hiking trails on moderate to steep terrain, two small lakes, several ponds, flower and vegetable gardens, and an apple orchard.
Visitors to the site can tour the Sandburg residence, as well as visit the dairy barn housing Connemara Farms' goat herd, representing the three breeds of goats Lillian Sandburg raised at Connemara. From June until mid-August, live performances of Sandburg's Rootabaga Stories
and excerpts from the Broadway play, The World of Carl Sandburg, are presented at the park amphitheater.
, of Charleston
, took a tour of Flat Rock
, North Carolina
in an attempt to find a summer home. Unable to find a home he liked, he purchased land from Charles Baring, one of the more prominent land holders in the area. In 1838 he hired an architect to begin work on a large summer home in the Greek-Revival-style
. The kitchen house and stable were actually completed first in the summer of 1838. The house was not complete until 1839. A cook’s house was added in 1841, a wagon shed in 1843, and an icehouse in 1845. An addition to the main house was constructed over the course of 1846-1849, and servant quarters were built in 1850.
Memminger called his summer home “Rock Hill,” possibly because the main house was constructed on the gradual slope of Big Glassy Mountain. In 1855, he had a stream in front of the house dammed up to create a small, artificial lake. The Memminger family spent most of their summers after 1839 at Rock Hill, and lived there full time from 1864 to the end of the Civil War
. During the war, the house was fortified and used as a shelter for friends who needed protection from raids by Union soldiers and Confederate deserters turned bandits.
Smyth changed the name of the house from “Rock Hill” to “Connemara,” after his ancestral district
in Ireland
. The Smyths winterized the house and enclosed the porch to convert it to a dining room. They also painted the house green for a brief period and even installed an eight hole golf course in the pastures. The captain and his family used Connemara as a summer home until 1925 when they decided to make it their permanent residence. Captain Smyth died in 1942, and the house remained vacant until 1945.
, famed poet and biographer, purchased Connemara on October 18, 1945 for $45,000http://www.nps.gov/carl/faqs.htm. Mrs. Sandburg had been looking for a new farm in a warmer climate to raise her prized Chikaming dairy goats, and when she showed Connemara to Mr. Sandburg, he reportedly said, “This is the place. We will look no further.” Upon buying the house, the Sandburgs immediately began remodeling. Contractors were hired to work on the heating, plumbing, electrical, the roof and the cement floor of the basement. They installed new chimneys and bathrooms, as well as dozens of bookshelves for Mr. Sandburg’s large library. They also repainted the house and installed a new indoor kitchen, having turned the original kitchen building into a three car garage. The entire remodeling process lasted off and on for two and a half years. In addition, over 42000 lb (19,050.9 kg) of personal belongings, primarily Sandburg’s library, were sent by train from their old house in Harbert, Michigan.
The Sandburgs lived at Connemara from October 1945 to July 1969. Mr. and Mrs. Sandburg lived there along with their three daughters, Margaret, Janet, and Helga, as well as Helga’s two children, John Carl and Karlen Paula. Carl Sandburg published over one third of his works while living at Connemara, and it was at this house he died of natural causes in 1967. After his death, his wife decided to sell Connemara to the federal government in order to preserve the house as a memorial to her husband. The Secretary of Interior
and family friend Stuart Udall backed the plan after he visited the house in October 1967, and Mrs. Sandburg signed a deed of gift in June of the following year. President Johnson
approved a congressional act making the home a historic site October 18, 1968. The site officially opened to the public in 1974. The National Park Service
spent the time between the purchase of the house and its opening restoring it and installing Plexiglas covers over the many bookcases.
Several bipartisan efforts by North Carolina's congressional delegation to authorize the expansion of the site by 115 acre (0.4653889 km²) to protect the scenic view, as well as create additional parking and a visitor's center were successful with the enactment of the Consolidated Natural Resources Act of 2008
.
Hendersonville, North Carolina
Hendersonville is a city in Henderson County, North Carolina, USA, southeast of Asheville. In 1900, 1,917 persons lived in Hendersonville; in 1910, 2,818; and in 1940, 5,381 people lived here. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 12,223, up fivefold in one century. It is the county...
in Flat Rock, North Carolina
Flat Rock, Henderson County, North Carolina
Flat Rock is a village in Henderson County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 2,565 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Asheville Metropolitan Statistical Area. The village is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Flat Rock Historic District.- Culture :Flat Rock is...
, preserves Connemara Farms, the home of Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
-winning poet and writer Carl Sandburg
Carl Sandburg
Carl Sandburg was an American writer and editor, best known for his poetry. He won three Pulitzer Prizes, two for his poetry and another for a biography of Abraham Lincoln. H. L. Mencken called Carl Sandburg "indubitably an American in every pulse-beat."-Biography:Sandburg was born in Galesburg,...
(1878-1967). Though a Midwesterner, Sandburg and his family moved to this home in 1945 for the peace and solitude required for his writing and the more-than-30 acres (121,405.8 m²) of pastureland required for his wife, Lilian, to raise her champion dairy goats. Sandburg spent the last 22 years of his life on this farm, and published more than one-third of his works while living here.
The site includes the Sandburg residence, a dairy goat farm (home to the Connemara Farms goat herd), sheds, rolling pastures, mountainside woods, 5 miles (8 km) of hiking trails on moderate to steep terrain, two small lakes, several ponds, flower and vegetable gardens, and an apple orchard.
Visitors to the site can tour the Sandburg residence, as well as visit the dairy barn housing Connemara Farms' goat herd, representing the three breeds of goats Lillian Sandburg raised at Connemara. From June until mid-August, live performances of Sandburg's Rootabaga Stories
Rootabaga Stories
Rootabaga Stories is a children's book of interrelated short stories by Carl Sandburg. The whimsical, sometimes melancholy stories, which often use nonsense language, were originally created for his own daughters. Sandburg had three daughters, Margaret, Janet and Helga, whom he nicknamed "Spink",...
and excerpts from the Broadway play, The World of Carl Sandburg, are presented at the park amphitheater.
The Memminger years
In the mid 1830s Christopher MemmingerChristopher Memminger
Christopher Gustavus Memminger was a prominent political leader and the first Secretary of the Treasury for the Confederate States of America.-Early life and career:...
, of Charleston
Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...
, took a tour of Flat Rock
Flat Rock, Henderson County, North Carolina
Flat Rock is a village in Henderson County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 2,565 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Asheville Metropolitan Statistical Area. The village is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Flat Rock Historic District.- Culture :Flat Rock is...
, North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
in an attempt to find a summer home. Unable to find a home he liked, he purchased land from Charles Baring, one of the more prominent land holders in the area. In 1838 he hired an architect to begin work on a large summer home in the Greek-Revival-style
Greek Revival architecture
The Greek Revival was an architectural movement of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in Northern Europe and the United States. A product of Hellenism, it may be looked upon as the last phase in the development of Neoclassical architecture...
. The kitchen house and stable were actually completed first in the summer of 1838. The house was not complete until 1839. A cook’s house was added in 1841, a wagon shed in 1843, and an icehouse in 1845. An addition to the main house was constructed over the course of 1846-1849, and servant quarters were built in 1850.
Memminger called his summer home “Rock Hill,” possibly because the main house was constructed on the gradual slope of Big Glassy Mountain. In 1855, he had a stream in front of the house dammed up to create a small, artificial lake. The Memminger family spent most of their summers after 1839 at Rock Hill, and lived there full time from 1864 to the end of the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. During the war, the house was fortified and used as a shelter for friends who needed protection from raids by Union soldiers and Confederate deserters turned bandits.
The Gregg and Smyth years
After Memminger’s death, his son Edward sold Rock Hill to Colonel William Gregg Jr., a Confederate veteran. During his ownership, he built new steps at the front of the house, since the originals had been removed during the war for defense. He also installed a bay window and fireplace mantles. The Greggs used Rock Hill as their summer home for about ten years before selling it to Captain Ellison Adger Smyth in 1900.Smyth changed the name of the house from “Rock Hill” to “Connemara,” after his ancestral district
Connemara
Connemara is a district in the west of Ireland consisting of a broad peninsula between Killary Harbour and Kilkieran Bay in the west of County Galway.-Overview:...
in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
. The Smyths winterized the house and enclosed the porch to convert it to a dining room. They also painted the house green for a brief period and even installed an eight hole golf course in the pastures. The captain and his family used Connemara as a summer home until 1925 when they decided to make it their permanent residence. Captain Smyth died in 1942, and the house remained vacant until 1945.
The Sandburg era
Carl SandburgCarl Sandburg
Carl Sandburg was an American writer and editor, best known for his poetry. He won three Pulitzer Prizes, two for his poetry and another for a biography of Abraham Lincoln. H. L. Mencken called Carl Sandburg "indubitably an American in every pulse-beat."-Biography:Sandburg was born in Galesburg,...
, famed poet and biographer, purchased Connemara on October 18, 1945 for $45,000http://www.nps.gov/carl/faqs.htm. Mrs. Sandburg had been looking for a new farm in a warmer climate to raise her prized Chikaming dairy goats, and when she showed Connemara to Mr. Sandburg, he reportedly said, “This is the place. We will look no further.” Upon buying the house, the Sandburgs immediately began remodeling. Contractors were hired to work on the heating, plumbing, electrical, the roof and the cement floor of the basement. They installed new chimneys and bathrooms, as well as dozens of bookshelves for Mr. Sandburg’s large library. They also repainted the house and installed a new indoor kitchen, having turned the original kitchen building into a three car garage. The entire remodeling process lasted off and on for two and a half years. In addition, over 42000 lb (19,050.9 kg) of personal belongings, primarily Sandburg’s library, were sent by train from their old house in Harbert, Michigan.
The Sandburgs lived at Connemara from October 1945 to July 1969. Mr. and Mrs. Sandburg lived there along with their three daughters, Margaret, Janet, and Helga, as well as Helga’s two children, John Carl and Karlen Paula. Carl Sandburg published over one third of his works while living at Connemara, and it was at this house he died of natural causes in 1967. After his death, his wife decided to sell Connemara to the federal government in order to preserve the house as a memorial to her husband. The Secretary of Interior
United States Secretary of the Interior
The United States Secretary of the Interior is the head of the United States Department of the Interior.The US Department of the Interior should not be confused with the concept of Ministries of the Interior as used in other countries...
and family friend Stuart Udall backed the plan after he visited the house in October 1967, and Mrs. Sandburg signed a deed of gift in June of the following year. President Johnson
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson , often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States after his service as the 37th Vice President of the United States...
approved a congressional act making the home a historic site October 18, 1968. The site officially opened to the public in 1974. The National Park Service
National Park Service
The National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...
spent the time between the purchase of the house and its opening restoring it and installing Plexiglas covers over the many bookcases.
The site today
Today the Carl Sandburg National Historic site attracts over 26,000 visitors a year, most of whom come during the leaf season. There are over five miles (8 km) of hiking trails on 264 acres (1.1 km²) of land that includes pastures, two small lakes, and two mountains. There are thirty-two structures on the site, including a barn for the descendants of Mrs. Sandburg’s Chikaming goat herd. The federal government has designated the goats a historic herd, and about fifteen goats are kept on the farm at any given time. The interior of the home is arranged in a manner similar to how Sandburg kept it during the 1950s.Several bipartisan efforts by North Carolina's congressional delegation to authorize the expansion of the site by 115 acre (0.4653889 km²) to protect the scenic view, as well as create additional parking and a visitor's center were successful with the enactment of the Consolidated Natural Resources Act of 2008
Consolidated Natural Resources Act of 2008
The Consolidated Natural Resources Act of 2008 was an act passed in the 110th United States Congress and enacted on May 8, 2008.-Legislative history:...
.