Carl Sandburg State Historic Site — Attraction in Galesburg

This is my second visit to the Carl Sandburg State Historical Site. It's functions as a cemetery honoring Carl Sandburg his wife and two of his daughters. All four live beneath Remembrance Rock, their ashes placed beneath The Rock. I visited in 2004, and the pine trees that accent The Rock had yet to be planted. I couldn't really walk around the Rock and read the flat stones and grave with Sandburg's poetry. Do you snow had melted and turned to ice and the ice covered the engraved stones. Of course the visitor center and the cottage couldn't welcome guess due to Covid-19 restrictions. I'm glad to see that a barn added since my last visit houses lectures and concerts. After all Sandberg collected folk songs and share them with us in a publication called the American song bag. Just for fun, if you got a few minutes, listen to the FM radio presentation. It's well written and well produced. I think you actually get to hear Carl Sandburg read as part of the presentation of the Aaron Copland composition honoring Lincoln. I did I listened as I watched the sunset...

We were unable to go inside when we visited since they didn’t open until 1pm. The grounds were very well maintained with walking paths to look at the backyard. There is even an outhouse in the backyard! Definitely worth a stop if you’re in the area.

Poet Carl Sandburg was born into a poor family in Galesburg, Illinois. In his youth, he worked many odd jobs before serving in the 6th Illinois Infantry in Puerto Rico during the Spanish-American War. He studied at Lombard College, and then moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he worked as an organizer for the Socialist Democratic Party. In 1913, he moved to Chicago, Illinois and wrote for the Chicago Daily News. His first poems were published by Harriet Monroe in Poetry magazine. Sandburg’s collection Chicago Poems (1916) was highly regarded, and he received the Pulitzer Prize for Corn Huskers (1918). His many subsequent books of poetry include The People, Yes (1936), Good Morning, America (1928), Slabs of the Sunburnt West (1922), and Smoke and Steel...

This is a must stop in Illinois! The history isn't that old but the story is fantastic! Our guide Tim(?) Was so knowledgeable and patiently answered our questions as we asked. He gave up options on watching a video and we took him up on it. Glad we did! It set up our tour with knowledge to apply while we perused the information center. It was super cold outside but Tim didn't even hesitate when we asked to go into the original birth place home. There we got a chance to see what the first couple of years of Carl Sandburg's life was like. It was amazing to learn how his name was changed over the years and all the other facts that are too numerous to write here. Back at the information center we proceeded to purchase some books and Tim again was very helpful. Make this free admission a stop and you will be as...