Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site

It is necessary now and then for a man to go away by himself and experience loneliness; to sit on a rock in the forest and to ask of himself, ‘Who am I, and where have I been, and where am I going?’ Carl Sandburg

A Place to Write

Carl Sandburg was already famous when he moved with his family to the Blue Ridge mountains of western North Carolina in 1945. Poet, minstrel, lecturer, biographer, and Pulitzer Prize winning author, he had spent his lifetime championing social justice and the American people through his writings and his singing. Although, at 67, he was at an age when many people retire, Sandburg was still actively working.

Sandburg’s wife, Lilian, had discovered the mountain farm named Connemara with their youngest daughter, Helga. The farm had everything the family wanted, including a gentle climate and ample pasture for Mrs. Sandburg’s toggenburg, saanen and nubian goats and seclusion for her husband’s writing. Carl Sandburg would call it home for 22 years.

The estate had a long history – an ironic history for the biographer of Abraham Lincoln – for Christopher Memminger, who built the main residence around 1838, had served from 1861 to 1864 as Secretary of the Confederate Treasury. The second occupant was textile tycoon Ellison Smyth who named it Connemara to honor his Irish ancestry. Smyth’s heirs sold it to the Sandburgs. The Sandburgs moved from Michigan with their three daughters, two grandchildren, a library of more than 14,000 volumes, and the Chikaming goat herd.

Pulitzer Prize Winners

The years at Connemara were productive for Carl Sandburg. He published poems, children’s literature, fiction, and nonfiction. He continued to travel, lecture, sing, and earn accolades, including another Pulitzer Prize. The family was busy too. Mrs. Sandburg bred her prize winning goats and ran the farm business. Margaret helped her father, attended to the library, and worked in her flower garden. Janet helped on the farm, which was especially active when Helga and her children, John Carl and Paul, lived here. Until her second marriage and move from Connemara, Helga managed the dairy operation with her mother. The grandchildren rode horses and played in the woods and pastures.

Carl Sandburg kept late hours. He often worked most of the night, while it was quiet and still, and slept until late in the morning. After a midday meal he read, answered letters, and wrote wherever his imagination took him – his upstairs office or study, the living room, the front porch, or on the large, sloping rock behind the house.

Edward Steichen Visits

There were frequent visitors at Connemara. A favorite guest was the well-known photographer Edward Steichen, Mrs. Sandburg’s brother and Carl Sandburg’s closest friend. Guests or not, dinner was a social gathering for the family. Afterward Sandburg would read aloud or sing with them. In the afternoon or evening, he walked with his wife, children or grandchildren, or his friends along one of the winding paths or through the woods.

Carl Sandburg died at home on July 22, 1967. In 1968 the Sandburg family sold the property and donated the contents of the home to the National Park Service to be preserved as the Carl Sandburg National Historic Site. Always a voice for the American people, Carl Sandburg speaks to us still through his words, songs, and the beauty and serenity of Connemara.

Visiting Connemara

Lilian Sandburg's Toggenburg, Saanen and Nubian Goats

Mrs. Sandburg had a deep interest in goats and developed a prize-winning herd in Michigan. But, the goat herd needed more room and a milder climate. Connemara was what Lilian Sandburg wanted – a place where her husband could write, her family would be happy, and she could raise goats.

Lilian Sandburg bred champions. She earned world fame for her dairy goats and for her work improving the herd’s bloodlines and milk production. In 1952 the herd numbered more than 200 head, and farm helpers milked 50 to 80 does twice a day. In 1960 top doe Jennifer II produced 5,750 pounds of milk, averaging 2.5 gallons a day. She became the all-breed American champion in milk production and the world-wide Toggenburg Champion.

Today the goats at Connemara are related to Lilian Sandburg’s herd. They are Toggenburgs (tan and white), Saanens (all white), and Nubians (multi-colored with long, floppy ears). After a five-month gestation period, the kids are born in the spring.

About Your Visit

Carl Sandburg’s home may surprise you, for this is not a peek into historical rooms devoid of personality. Here, the rooms are as the Sandburgs left them – warm and inviting, inspiring and restful. Books and personal items are scattered about, as if the family will return at any moment from an evening walk. It is a relaxed and comfortable home, still filled with the presence of a spirited man whose writings echoed the voice of the American people. Enjoy your visit here: the home, the farm, and the beautiful natural setting will help restore your spirits.