Carl Sandburg Home, Connemara, The

The story of North Carolina’s Carl Sandburg Home, “Connemara,” began in the early 19th century when Christopher Gustavus Memminger, noted lawyer and first secretary of the Confederate treasury, built “Rock Hill” as his summer home. After Memminger’s death, the property was owned by William Gregg Jr., son of textile giant William Gregg, and later by Ellison Adger Smyth, dean of the Southern textile industry, who renamed it Connemara. Pulitzer Prize–winning author Carl Sandburg and his family purchased the property in 1945 and then lived there for 22 years. Connemara is a National Historic Site run by the National Park Service. It welcomes over 100,000 guests per year to tour, learn, and enjoy the house, barns, and hiking trails.