Carl Sandburg Home

https://www.nps.gov/carl/index.htm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Sandburg_Home_National_Historic_Site Sandburg Home National Historic Site, located near Hendersonville in the village of Flat Rock, North Carolina, preserves Connemara, the home of Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and writer Carl Sandburg. 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 (120,000 m2) of pastureland required for his wife, Lilian, to raise her champion dairy goats. The 264-acre site includes the Sandburg residence, the goat farm, 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. Post Helene Status: Grounds / trails open dawn till dusk 7 days a week. Hikers lot limited to 24 cars. Barn & video open 7 days a week 10-3. Bookstore / park open Sat and Sun 10-3. Interagency passes can be purchased here. Half mile walk from parking to farm / house area. The park is located three miles south of Hendersonville, NC on Little River Road off of the Greenville Highway/Rt. 225 in Flat Rock, NC. Visitors using GPS or mapping software should use 1800 Little River Road and look for the signs directing you to the main visitor parking lot off Little River Road. To access the Hikers Parking lot, use 1928 Little River Road as the GPS address. You will see signs for the Hiker's parking lot, on the left, just before Carl Sandburg Lane. Visitor Center/Park Store and Information The Sandburg Home Visitor Center/Park Store and Tours are open Wednesday through Sunday (5 days per week) from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Hours vary by season; the Holiday closures below will change by season. The visitor center/park store and information area is a great place to start your visit! You can find information to plan your visit, get a passport stamp, participate in the Jr Ranger or BARK Ranger programs, and get a schedule of upcoming events. The park is located three miles south of Hendersonville, NC on Little River Road off of the Greenville Highway/Rt. 225 in Flat Rock, NC. Visitors using GPS or mapping software should use 1800 Little River Road and look for the signs directing you to the main visitor parking lot on Little River Road. Carl Sandburg Home NHS A view of the Sandburg Home as visitors enter the park The Sandburg family enjoyed living in the Carolina mountains along with a collection of 12,000 books and a herd of dairy goats. Visitor Entrance to Carl Sandburg Home NHS A view of the front lake and Sandburg Home as visitors enter the park A view of the front lake and Sandburg Home as visitors enter the park Connemara Farms Dairy goats graze peacefully near the Sandburg barn Connemara Farms dairy goats graze peacefully near the Sandburg barn Carl Sandburg's Study A view of Sandburg's study as visitors see it today A view of Sandburg's study as visitors see it today Kid Goats Greet Visitors Spring-born kid goats greet visitors to the barn Spring-born kid goats greet visitors to the barn. Hiking Trails in the Park Two visitors enjoy a stroll through the trees on a park trail Visitors can enjoy more than five miles of hiking trails through the park. NPS Geodiversity Atlas—Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site, North Carolina Each park-specific page in the NPS Geodiversity Atlas provides basic information on the significant geologic features and processes occurring in the park. Links to products from Baseline Geologic and Soil Resources Inventories provide access to maps and reports. house on a grassy hill surrounded by trees Literary Landscapes: Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site was the first national park unit created to honor the life and works of an American poet. Carl Sandburg and his wife Lilian left Michigan for the mountains of North Carolina in 1945. In his 22 years on the rural property, Sandburg wrote prolifically, hiked in the surrounding woods, walked through meadows, and tended to their farm. His attention to daily life in the American landscape still resonates, seen in his words and his home. Goats trot through an opening in a fence, over short grass in front of farm buildings 3 Ways to Celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act July 18, 2018, we celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, a special piece of legislation that curbed the drastic decline of birds in North America. A bald eagle gliding over the Chesapeake Bay. 2019 NPS Environmental Achievement Awards Since 2002, the National Park Service (NPS) has awarded Environmental Achievement (EA) Awards to recognize staff and partners in the area of environmental preservation, protection and stewardship. Sandburg Family Holiday Recipes A Sandburg family holiday was full of cheer with wreaths made from waxy Galax leaves, Christmas trees picked right out of the Connemara woods, and Lilian Sandburg’s famous old-fashioned fruit cake and other dishes. Throughout Mrs. Sandburg's cookbooks are a few hand-written recipes, likely adaptations of family favorites or recipes handed down through her family. Explore her recipes for fruitcake, pickles, crescent roles and more. Open recipe book with a recipe for fruit cake. Be a Sandburg Home Rootabaga Junior Ranger If you are unable to plan a visit to the park, you can still join in Junior Ranger fun! We've recorded a portion of our popular summer "Rootabaga Stories" plays for you to watch. After you watch the video, complete the activities and print your own Junior Rootabaga badge. Image of gold badge with words Junior Ranger Carl Sandburg Home NHS Sandburg Home B.A.R.K. Ranger Become a Sandburg Home BARK Ranger to learn how to have a "pawsitive" experience with your pet on public trails. A black and white dog wearing a BARK Ranger tag Series: NPS Environmental Achievement Awards Since 2002, the National Park Service (NPS) has awarded Environmental Achievement (EA) Awards to recognize staff and partners in the area of environmental preservation, protection and stewardship. A vehicle charges at an Electric Vehicle charging station at Thomas Edison National Historical Park Be a Sandburg Home Junior Ranger Learn about Carl Sandburg, poetry, goats and more when you participate in the site's Junior Ranger program. Junior Rangers simply visit the park store and request a free booklet, or can download a booklet to complete at home. colorful line drawing illustration of the Sandburg Home, barn and goats Sandburg Home Grounds Tour Beyond the Sandburg Home and barn are a variety of buildings located throughout the park landscape. Follow the trail of buildings and lean more about how the Sandburg family and previous owners used these places. Illustrated map of the park showing building outlines and names Black History at Rock Hill/Connemara Though Carl Sandburg Home NHS is devoted to preserving the legacy of 20th century writer and social activist Carl Sandburg, this place, also known as Rock Hill and later Connemara, was built in the 1800s partially through the labor of enslaved Africans. After emancipation, black workers became employees at Rock Hill and Connemara, caring for children, cleaning the household, and caring for the grounds and property. This article explores their contribution to this place. black and white image of six black workers standing in front of a wooden building circa 1910 What Six Girls with Balloons Told the Gray Man on Horseback A story from Carl Sandburg's stories for children titled "Rootabaga Stories" Black and white illustration of six girls with balloons tied to hair braids The White Horse Girl and the Blue Wind Boy A story from Carl Sandburg's stories for children titled "Rootabaga Stories" Black and white sketch of a boy walking on the wind Virtual Tour of Sandburg Home This is a virtual tour with 360 images of the inside of the Sandburg Home. Visitors can only explore the home in person while on a guided tour. Carl Sandburg and his family lived here for 22 years from 1945-1967. Learn about the home, how the Sandburg family lived here and the story of love and success they all shared. View of pasture and trees from the Sandburg Home porch Sandburg's Hobo Journey Follow Carl Sandburg's hobo journey, beginning in his hometown of Galesburg, Illinois and ending in Omaha, Nebraska. Visit the cities below to learn about Sandburg's time riding the rails. Sepia toned vintage railroad map from 1900 Japanese American Incarcerees Sponsored by Carl Sandburg As a journalist for the Chicago Daily Times, Carl Sandburg voiced his support for Nisei, American born citizen of Japanese ancestry. Through the War Relocation Authority office in Chicago, his wife Lilian Sandburg advertised positions for a secretary and a farm hand to work at their home in Herbert, MI. These positions would provide Sunao Imoto and Kaye Miyamoto with employment and a sponsor so they could leave the internment camps. A man and woman work in an office setting together Carl Sandburg and Music Carl Sandburg spent years interviewing musicians and singers, documenting their songs, including folk, gospel, jazz and blues. He published a book titled “The American Songbag" and said it was "a ragbag of strips, stripes, and streaks of color from nearly all ends of the earth. The melodies and verses presented here are from diverse regions, from varied human characters and communities, and each is sung differently in different places.” black and white image of Carl Sandburg sitting, playing a guitar Carl Sandburg and Abraham Lincoln Carl Sandburg started out writing a Lincoln book for children. That idea kept growing into what would become a 6-volume detailed biography of Abraham Lincoln, which Sandburg earned a Pulitzer Prize for in 1940. Later he was invited to address a Joint Session of Congress on February 12, 1959, honoring Abraham Lincoln's birthday. Black and white photo of one man at a desk with microphone while two men sit at desk in background Published Works by Carl Sandburg A list of the published works of Carl Sandburg. Carl Sandburg, the Biographer of Lincoln Carl Sandburg started out writing a Lincoln book for children. That idea kept growing into what would become a 6 volume detailed biography of Abraham Lincoln, which earned him a Pulitzer Prize for the effort in 1940. image of 11 book spines Carl Sandburg: The People Yes The People, Yes, an epic prose-poem, is in many ways the culmination of Sandburg’s work as a poet and is believed by Lilian Sandburg to be his favorite work. He crafted it over an eight-year period, fusing the American vernacular with the details of history and contemporary events Sandburg Poetry Collection: Smoke and Steel Sandburg published Smoke and Steel in 1920, revealing and celebrating the bustle and beauty of cities and the dreams, struggles and tragedies of "The People". Establishing Carl Sandburg Home NHS Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site was established on October 17, 1968 to preserve the legacy of Carl Sandburg; An American Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, author, journalist, biographer, storyteller, and musicologist. image of the front of large white home with covered porch surrounded by green trees and shrubs Sandburg: Civil War and Civil Rights Discover Carl Sandburg's relationship to the Civil War and to Civil Rights. Born more than a decade after the Civil War ended, growing up in Galesburg exposed Sandburg to Civil War history. His own immigrant experience and early life led him to believe that economic inequality was the root cause of all social strife and he used his words to illuminate this human condition. Carl Sandburg Poetry Collection: Child Labor Sandburg's poetry and prose offers bold, realistic portraits of working class and social concerns such as child labor. Carl Sandburg Poetry Collection: Seasonal Poetry Sandburg found inspiration in the world of man and nature. His gift of observations and reflections on nature are explored through his seasonal poetry Write-Out Poetry Prompt-Who am I? Join Park Ranger Ginger, as she explores the writing inspirations of Carl Sandburg. He was a journalist, poet, novelist, biographer and autobiographer. A frequent question he asked himself was "Who am I? Where have I been? Where am I going?" Use these questions to write a short story or poem answering them for yourself. Write Out Poetry Prompt- Who Am I? Join Park Ranger Ginger, as she explores the writing inspirations of Carl Sandburg. He was a journalist, poet, novelist, biographer, and autobiographer. A frequent question he asked himself was "Who am I?, Where have I been? Where am I going?" Use these questions to write a short story or poem answering them for yourself. image of notebook and writing pen Helga Sandburg Crile Youngest of the Sandburg children Helga Sandburg Crile was integral to the dairy goat operation at Connemara farms. She had numerous other interests and hobbies, and had two children: John Carl and Paula. Carl Sandburg and Chicago Poems The beginning of Carl Sandburg's poetic journey. Turn of the century Chicago provided inspirations for Sandburg's earliest works and the title for his first published book of poetry - Chicago Poems. His Chicago poetry celebrated and consoled people in their environments— the crush of the city, the enduring solace of the prairie. Image of the chicago skyline overlaid with text from Chicago poem Three Boys With Jugs of Molasses and Secret Ambitions A story from Carl Sandburg's collection titled "Rootabaga Stories." black and white drawing of three boys with their feet stuck in puddles of molasses Intern and Fellow Highlights: Madison “Madi” Duran You may have heard of cultural resources, but what exactly does this work entail and what type of work do interns and fellows do? Meet Madison “Madi” Duran (she/her), who is the American Conservation Experience (ACE) Museum Collections Intern at the Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site. Madi holding one of our first baby goats of the season at CARL Chattel Slavery in the Appalachians of North Carolina Slavery was foundational to the early American development of the Appalachian region. For decades history has claimed the occupants of the region to be poor White settlers. This myth painted the region as isolated from the conflicts and innocent of the crimes of the nation. Black Appalachians made-up a large part of the labor force outside of farming in North Carolina before 1860. The history of the mountain region is much complex than has often been portrayed. William Gregg Jr., 1834-1895 William Gregg Jr. was born in 1834 into this wealthy, slaveholding family. He spent much of his youth at the family estate Kalmia, overlooking the Graniteville Mill. Years later, he bought the furnished Rock Hill property in 1889. He used it as a summer retreat while maintaining permanent residency in Charleston, where he died in 1895. His widow, Mary Fleming Gregg, rented out the famous house as a summer home until selling it to Ellison Adger Smyth in 1900. A Sense of Landscape History at Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site When the Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978, there was limited documentation of the landscape features and the overall site design prior to the Sandburgs' ownership. The National Register listing was updated in 1995, incorporating descriptions from the 1993 Cultural Landscape Report. This fuller understanding of the landscape over time helps the NPS to maintain the site as the Sandburgs knew it. A herd of goats walk through a gate in a fence, surrounding a pasture in front of a barn. Updated Species Database Will Help Boost Amphibian Conservation Across the National Park Service To steward amphibians effectively, managers need basic information about which species live in parks. But species lists need constant maintenance to remain accurate. Due to recent efforts, the National Park Service now has an up-to-date amphibian species checklist for almost 300 parks. This information can serve as the basis for innumerable conservation efforts across the nation. A toad sits on red sand, looking into the camera. Guide to the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) Southeast Region Collection This finding aid describes the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) Southest Region Collection, part of the NPS History Collection. Project Profile: A Strategic Approach to Building Forest Resiliency in Southeast Parks The National Park Service is addressing the climate change vulnerability of southeast park ecosystems. Fall-colored trees on a mountain slope. A tree is in the right-side foreground. The Adventures of Ranger Cow! Follow Ranger Cow's journey to American Revolutionary War sites! Crochet Cow in Park Ranger uniform “Cracking the code” on mercury bioaccumulation Read the abstract and get the link to a published paper on a model to predict mercury risk park waterbodies: Kotalik, C.J. et al. 2025. Ecosystem drivers of freshwater mercury bioaccumulation are context-dependent: insights from continental-scale modeling. Environmental Science & Technology. DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.4c07280 A person stands in a field looking at a bug through a magnifying lens. Series: Overview of Cultural Landscape and National Register Documentation The National Register of Historic Places and cultural landscape documentation each provide a set of tools and frameworks for evaluating significance and integrity in NPS cultural landscapes. They consider research, data, and context, all with the understanding that these can change over time. These examples demonstrate relationships between National Register documentation and landscape preservation, and how significance and integrity inform stewardship, interpretation, and understanding. A staircase with a metal railing descends to the dark opening of a cave, framed by rocks and forest

Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site North Carolina June Glenn, Jr A Place to Write—and to Raise Goats When Carl Sandburg first came to the mountains of Western North Carolina in 1945 and stood on the porch of the main house of Connemara, he knew that the place truly suited him. And this poet, author, lecturer, minstrel, onetime political activist, and social thinker settled down and spent the last 22 years of his long, productive life on this Flat Rock farm. Mrs. Sandburg had discovered the Western North Carolina mountain area for the family and had become enchanted by the beautiful environment and gentle climate. She looked at several places, but Connemara, the old Smyth place, captured her imagination. The farm had everything the family wanted, including ample pasture for the goats and seclusion for writing. The house and farm had a long history— an ironic history, in fact, for the biographer for Abraham Lincoln. The property originally had been the summer home of Christopher Gustavus Memminger of Charleston, S.C. He built the main residence around 1838 and enjoyed the balmy summers away from Charleston's heat and humidity. He later became the first Secretary of the Confederate Treasury and served in that capacity from 1861 to 1864. After his death the property passed to the Gregg family and then to Capt. Ellison Smyth, a textile tycoon. His heirs sold it to the Sandburgs in 1945. The Sandburgs then moved from Michigan to the 97-hectare (240-acre) farm with their three daughters and two grandchildren, their library of more than 10,000 volumes, all their personal belongings, and the Chikaming goat herd. On October 17, 1968, Congress established the Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site to be administered by the National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. The buildings, beautiful rolling pastures, and mountain woods now belong to the people Carl Sandburg wrote about for so many years. California Museum of Photography Like most of us, Carl Sandburg was shaped by his environment. He was born January 6,1878, in CalesburgJII., the son of Swedish immigrants, and the small town, the prairie, the plain life of the Midwest, and the austerity and hard work of his youth all reappeared later in his writing. Further molded by several years of odd jobs, by travels west and east as hobo and Spanish-American War soldier, and by active political and social reform work, Sandburg was to emerge as one of the great 20th-century voices of the evolving American experience. This "poet laureate" of the people sang of pioneers, cowboys, lumberjacks, railroad section gangs, and steamboat crews. He observed and commemorated the American people, their folk wisdom, heroes, ballads, hopes, and worth. Sandburg left school after the eighth grade to work and to travel. In 1898, however, he returned home to study at Lombard College. It was there that he seriously began writing. His first poems appeared in print in 1904, but he did not achieve any real success until 1914, when nine poems, including "Chicago," were published. In 1916, at age 38, his first book of poetry, Chicago Poems, was published. During his work with the Socialist Reform Movement in the early 1900s Sandburg married Lilian "Paula" Steichen, who shared his interests and became a strong and positive force in his work and life. To support his growing family, Sandburg wrote for several newspapers and spent the longest time, 13 years, with the Chicago Daily News. But he continued to write in more and more fields. His two-volume biography, Abraham Lincoln: the Prairie Years, appeared in 1926 and established Sandburg as a biographer. In 1932, he left full-time newspaper work to pursue his literary interests: poetry, biography, autobiography, history, children's literature, books on American folk music, and a novel. The Sandburgs spent the next few years at a lakeside home in Harbert, Mich., and he produced, among other things, Abraham Lincoln: the War Years, the four-volume set for which he won the Pulitzer Prize for history in 1940. While he was writing, his wife and daughter Helga began raising dairy goats, and their herd became one of the finest in the country. Because of this everexpanding goat activity and Michigan's rigorous climate, the Sandburgs moved to North Carolina. WxJ fmj* J W N ^ Life at Connemara The Sandburg years at Connemara were productive ones for the man of letters. Among other things, in 1948 he published his only novel, Remembrance Rock, which traced the American epic from Plymouth Rock to World War II. In 1953 his autobiography, Always the Young Strangers, was published. This book centered on his youth in the small town of Galesburg, III. Add to that several volumes of history and poetry, including the Complete Poems, which won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1951, and one can see that Sandburg remained a prolific writer in his last years. Life at Connemara was busy, too, for the other family members. Mrs. Sandburg contin

Trail over Little Glassy Mountain 0.4mi 0.6km Memminger Path to Glassy Mountain 1.2mi 1.9km 7 Greenhouse 16 Duck Pond Goat Sheds 8 Vegetable Garden Woods Trail around Little Glassy Mountain 0.8mi 1.3km Spring Trail to trout pond 0.1mi 0.2km 15 9 Corn Crib Buck Kid Quarters 10 Goat Sheds Goat Barn Barn Garage 11 17 6 Wood Shed 5 4 Pumphouse 3 Rock outcrop Bird feeding area 2 Isolation Quarters 18 Wood Shed Springhouse Ice House (site) 19 Chicken House 21 Swedish Garage 12 14 1 Amphitheater 24 Goat or Donkey House 25 Horse Barn Storage Shed SIDE PASTURE House 22 Main House 13 Farm Manager’s House Tenant House 23 Woods Cow Shed Milkhouse 20 Buck House Restrooms Woods Gazebo Margaret’s Garden Trail from Main House to parking area 0.5mi 0.8km FRONT PASTURE Side Lake Trail to Main House Distance: 0.3mi 0.5km Elevation gain: 100ft 30m No swimming No fishing i Entrance Dr Trail around Front Lake 0.4mi 0.6km Service road, no pedestrian traffic Front Lake Dam To Flat Rock and 26 To 64 and Brevard Woods No swimming No fishing If you are unable to walk to the main house, call for assistance on the park phone in the parking lot or at the information station. ve (se r v ic e o n l y ) Historic entrance, no motorized access Information Station and Restrooms Parking area Flat Rock Playhouse This birds-eye view looks southwest. Scale varies. Little Riv er Road North