Flat Rock – The National Park Service has approved $1,081,600 for repairs to the Front Lake dam at the Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site in Flat Rock. Funds will be available after October 1, 2024, which marks the beginning of their new federal fiscal year.
Repairs are tentatively scheduled to start in mid-2025, following the completion of design, compliance, and contracting requirements. The repairs will reinforce the eroded left side of the earthen dam, replace the faulty corrugated metal pipe with a high-density polyethylene pipe, slow down water seepage, and filter out sediment. Once the dam is repaired, a more robust inspection and monitoring process will be implemented to identify small problems early, before they escalate into catastrophic failures.
Repairs to historic structures like this typically take 9 to 12 months, with an estimated completion date set for mid to late 2026.
“We are grateful for the support of our visitors, partners, elected officials, and other community members throughout this process,” said Superintendent Polly Angelakis. “We are eager to repair this significant feature of our historic landscape. The Front Lake bridge is built on part of the dam, and these repairs will also restore access to this bridge, which serves as our main pedestrian entrance.”
“Visitors should continue to avoid closed areas near the Front Lake bridge, as the surrounding area is unstable and eroding,” she added.
The Front Lake at the Carl Sandburg Home in Flat Rock has been empty for years due to drainage issues. Severe bank erosion was discovered at the historic dam due to a corrugated metal pipe installed in the 1980s, which was the industry standard at that time. On August 9, 2022, the bridge was closed for safety concerns.
For those who have not visited the house recently, the absence of any water feature leading to the home is quite unsettling and shocking. The beautiful water elements around the house have all been drained. Walking through the lakebed is not permitted. Visitors must take an extra hike around the hill to reach the house. Thanks to the Friends of Carl Sandburg at Connemara, a visitor shuttle is now available. From Wednesdays through Sundays, the shuttle operates from 9:40 AM to 4:20 PM and makes stops at the main parking lot, goat barn, and near the Sandburg Home.
In spring 2023, the park received $201,000 for the design phase of repairs. This initial step was complex, as design engineers had to balance preserving original historic elements and appearance with incorporating modern materials to strengthen and enhance the dam. The design is expected to be completed by December 2024.
The Poet of the People
Sandburg (1878-1967) lived at Connemara in Flat Rock with his wife Paula Steichen Sandburg for the last 22 years of his life. The Sandburg home at Connemara was filled with laughter, song, storytelling, good conversation, delicious food, love, and hard work. Carl Sandburg wrote many works there while Paula Sandburg operated a Grade ‘A’ goat dairy that once housed as many as 200 goats. The home was always bustling with activity. Today, this vibrancy is reflected on the Flat Rock property where house tours are available, musical festivals are held, Rootabaga plays are performed in the amphitheater. Visitors can explore the Goat Barn, Christmas programs are offered, and monthly virtual writing workshops take place. There is no fee for visiting the park and its grounds.
Carl Sandburg received numerous awards and honors and critical acclaim for his diverse writings. He wrote about all American people, particularly focusing on the working class—their concerns, struggles, and dreams. 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. He won a Pulitzer Prize in history in 1940 for his biography of Abraham Lincoln’s presidency, “The War Years,” and another Pulitzer Prize in 1951 for his “Complete Poems,” a compilation of poetry published from 1916 to 1950. Many may recognize his poem “Fog,” which begins: “The fog comes on little cat feet. It sits looking over harbor and city on silent haunches, and then moves on.”
After World War I, Sandburg grew weary of “the imbecility of a frightened world” and found refuge in his imagination with the creation of the Rootabaga Stories for children. These whimsical tales and fables were set in the American Midwest in Rootabaga Country, where “the railroad tracks change from straight to zigzag and the pigs have bibs on.” He replaced the traditional European fairy tale characters—princes, princesses, castles, and kingdoms—with icons that American children would recognize: taxi drivers, movie actors, skyscrapers, prairies, and automobiles.