Our visit to the Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site (NHS) in March 2023 was a trip back in time to the peaceful 264-acre Connemara farm where Sandburg spent 24 years after he and his family moved from Michigan in 1945.
We delighted in visiting the Sandburg residence, the goat farm, sheds, and rolling pastures. Five miles of trails wind through mountainside woods, past ponds and lakes.
Trails lead from the parking lot to the residence, and from the residence to the manager’s house and dairy farm area.
Known as “America’s Poet”, Sandburg was “the passionate champion of people who did not have the words or power to speak for themselves.”
At Connemara, where he published more than a third of his works, Carl found the solitude he required for his literary endeavors. Sandburg won three Pulitzer Prizes, two for poetry and another for his monumental multi-volume biography of Abraham Lincoln.
The beautiful pastures in the foothills of the Blue Ridge mountains provided the perfect spot for Carl’s wife Lillian to raise her prize-winning, internationally-known goats.
Connemara Farms’ dairy barn houses the three breeds of milking dairy goats Lilian raised: Saanen, Toggenburg, and Nubian.
Lillian helped modernize the dairy goat industry, bringing acceptance to the industry as a legitimate form of farming. Her over arching goal was to develop champion milk-producing stock through scientific breeding methods. Toward that goal, the goat’s breeding records were meticulously maintained and their awards were proudly displayed.
After his death in 1967, Sandburg’s wife sold Connemara to the U.S. government to preserve the house as a memorial to her husband. Just one year later, President Johnson declared the home a historic site. After renovations, the home officially opened to the public in 1974.
Sandburg’s home gave me the feeling that the family had temporarily stepped out – and may soon return. Books and papers were scattered about in almost every room.
The table was set for a meal.
The beds were made in the tidy upstairs bedroom hideaways.
The primitive kitchen in the bottom floor was ready for duty.
What a great opportunity to see how the Sandburgs lived their life at this idyllic spot – surrounded by books, animals, and inspiring vistas. President Johnson proclaimed that “Carl Sandburg was more than the voice of America, more than the poet of its strength and genius. He was America.”
Our visit was a time of reflection for us. And a time of inspiration.
Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent. Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you. Carl Sandburg
Life is like an onion. You peel it off one layer at a time, and sometimes you weep. Carl Sandburg
This was meant to be the first stop in a big trip to finish up the NPS sites we had left in North Carolina. As it turned out, we had to rework the schedule and would need two more trips to complete our visits to the state. NC stretches over 500 miles long, with NPS sites sprinkled among mountains, beaches, and battlefield sites.