Carl Sandburg was a renowned American author, poet, journalist, playwright, and editor. Sandburg was looking for a quieter place to work on his writings while his wife, Lillian Sandburg, was looking for a warmer climate to raise her goats; upon seeing the land and home in Flat Rock, North Carolin Sandburg said, "This is the place. We will look no further." In 1945 Captain Ellison Adger Smyth sold Sandburg the estate, then called Connemara after Smyth’s Irish historical district, for $45,00O. Sandburg lived in the house, after significantly remodeling, until 1967 when he died of natural causes. Mrs. Sandburg sold the estate and gifted his belongings to the US Government in order to preserve her husband’s legacy. In 1974 his library shelves, which house over 11,000 books, were covered over with plexiglass and the park was opened for the public.

A survey done in 2001 and 2002 found that there are over 530 different vascular plant species located on Connemara.