photo by Maggie McKenna

Rockome Gardens

A  Place for Beauty, Nostalgia and Fun

No wonder Rockome has been called the most fantastic of all man-made

collections of rocks.  There is no way of telling how many thousands of man

hours of work have gone into the building of the beautiful and intriguing

rock formations, but it is known that many men have worked around the

calendar for more than 60 years to make the Gardens a tranquil spot of

beauty.  

Rockome started in 1939 when Arthur Martin, an industrialist in the city of

Arthur, determined to turn the grounds around his country home into the

biggest rock and flower garden in Douglas county.  He far exceeded his early

goals and, in fact, turned the area into the biggest private rock and flower

garden in the nation.  Mr. Martin¹s intention at the beginning was to build

a garden like no other for his own enjoyment.  He built a small summer

cottage and used men from his factory in Arthur to help him build his dream.

Mr. Martin loved flowers and  what a perfect setting for them in among the

rock fences and beds.

     Word of the magnificence of  Mr. Martin¹s rock and flower gardens got

around central Illinois and soon there were many Sunday travelers driving

back and forth on the road in front of the his gardens oohing over the

magnificent creations.  People use to say that this place was Mr. Martin

rock home, and he liked the name so he just dropped the letter H and called

it Rockome.  

The following is a excerpt from a booklet Mr Martin printed in 1947:

"This elaborate setup was built and is kept up by the  Martins for their own

enjoyment and pleasure.  However, so many friends and neighbors and of late

others from hundreds of miles around call at Rockome on days in the summer,

more than a thousand visitors enjoy the beauty and novelty without charge or

bother.  Form the earliest Spring when more than 10,000 Tulips bloom till

the Fall, colored by thousand  of Chrysanthemum and Dahlia blossoms, Rockome

hangs out its Welcome sign to any and all who enjoy the rugged beauty of

rocks, the color and fragrance of flowers, without money or price.  Only

admission is your enjoyment.  You are always welcome: because of this we can

give and give and give and still have more left other fellow travelers in

this world.  And our money we spent to make this a place of enjoyment for us

is merely our donation to your happiness to make us both forget war, strife,

jealousy, death, and destruction.  We hope you enjoy is as much as we have

enjoyed the building and upkeep of it,  and if so, we are satisfied."

     Outside of Mr. and Mrs. Martin, credit for designing and work at

"Rockome" should be given to Mr. Edward Seitz, Mr. Fred Bruns, Mr. Bond

Edwards and Mr. John Burmeister.

     After completing the gardens Mr. Martin decided to move on to other

interests and in 1952 gave the 207 acre farm and gardens to the Mennonite

Board of Missions and Charities in Elkhart, Indiana (Mr. Martin was not

Mennonite or Amish).  The board decided to use the spot as a retirement

haven for missionaries.  Accordingly two cottages were built.  The two

cabins are still on the grounds but have been joined together to form the

home of Elvan and Irene Yoder.  The missionaries did not share an enthusiasm

for the retirement mecca (or retirement in general) and in 1958  the board

sole the gardens and the farm to Elvan Yoder, himself a Mennonite who had

been reared in the Amish faith.

     Elvan bought the place expecting to till the soil since that is what he

had been doing all his life.  It didn¹t take him long to learn that there

might be other ways to make a living with unusual rock garden.

     Every summer thousands drove by to view the rock work and flowers from

the road.  Shortly after purchasing the gardens Elvan open it up to the

public and started giving buggy rides and opened the Amish home for tours

and opened a small gift shop and custard stand. Visitors to the area always

see the Amish coming and going in their buggies, hanging the washing out or

working the fields with teams of horses. But until the Rockome Amish Home

was opened in 1963, visitors never had a chance to learn about the Amish and

why they live in such a simple lifestyle.

    Irene Yoder  started a small gift shop (so small in fact that Elvan said

if he would sell $100 worth of gifts it would wipe out his entire inventory)

at the south end of the gardens,. but by 1960  she moved it to a larger

building and of course it was call Irene's Gift shop.  In 1968 a new

building was build for Irene's Gift shop at the north end of the gardens

near the new parking lot build in 1967.  Also in 1968 was added the tree

house, look-out tower, antique museum, haunted barn and ice cream shop.

    Many building have been added throughout the years.  First the dairy

barn that was on the ground was turned into a Rock Shop operated by Mr. and

Mrs. Marcus Whetstone.  The Whetstones spent many  summers running their

shop and would go to Arizona during the winter to collect rocks.  They were

true rock hounds. After the passing of the Whetstones,  Bill Burnett was the

operator for many years.  Bill retired in 1987 and passed away shortly after

that.

    The next shop build was the Indian Trading Post and it was run by Bud

Campbell.  He had a collection of indian artifacts that he found over the

years around this area. Bud passed away around 1980.  The old indian trading

post was tore down in 1996 and and new one was built.  Next to the Indian

trading post Yoder¹s Grist mill and cheese shop was built to house the mill

used to grind corn meal and cheese sales area.

      Around 1968 the one room schools in the area were all being closed so

Elvan decided to move in one that was near Rockome called the East Prairie

School.  It still is here today with the original desks and furnishings.

There were two other school buildings near Arthur that were being closed and

they called were the Bolinger schools.  They were first used as a general

store and clothing shop.  Later were used as the Calico quilt and loom shop.

     In 1970 Elvan wanted some place where he could feed the visitors that

came to the gardens.  He already had the snack bar which served sandwiches

and ice cream, but he want something  better.  He built a small building and

started serving beef stew dinners.  That same building also was used for

baking bread, cinnamon rolls, and shoo-fly pie,  which they served with the

dinners.  In 1978 he built the Rockome Family-Style Restaurant.  The 225

seat restaurant has fed hundreds of thousands of visitors including

thousands of bus groups.  Around 1985 a small building was converted into a

furniture shop which carried Amish furniture that was started to be built in

the area.  The furniture shop soon outgrew the small shop and was moved into

a larger building, which as been expanded to double it¹s original size.  The

old furniture shop became the Candy Shop.   In 1990 the outdoor miniature

railroad was added with three separate layouts complete with mountains and

buildings.  

     Throughout the years many festivals and shows were tried and some

failed but some were successful.  Many shows have been a long time.  The

oldest festival we have is Horse Farming Days.  Started in 1968, Horse

Farming Days celebrate the time when all farming was done with horses.

There are contests for those who wish to enter.  Old timers or neophytes are

welcome to try their skill at corn husking or the walking plow.

Demonstrations of the Sulky plow, disking, feed grinding, silage cutting,

and hay bailing are all taking place during the nine day festival in late

September and early October.

     The next oldest festival is the quilt celebration held in late June and

early July.  Over 200 quilts are entered each year competing for over $9,000

in prize money.  Also we added a quilt auction held during the quilt

celebration.  We now have three auctions each year, one in April, August and

September and sell around 100 quilts each auction.

     The National Counted Cross Stitch Show started in 1984 and is now the

longest running Cross Stitch Show in the country.  Around 400 entries

compete for $7500 in prize money and the entries come from all over the

nation.

      Shows that have been added over the years and are still popular are

the Doll and Bear Show, Model Train Show and Sale, Farm Toy Show and Sale,

Amish Farm Market, Bluegrass Festival, Illinois State Fiddle Contest and

Craft Show.

    But with or without special attractions Rockome is a unique experience

for those visiting it for the first time.  Experience has shown the Yoders

that very few people come to the Gardens only once.  Many return to see the

difference shows.  Others come back just to enjoy the peace and beauty that

is always a part of Rockome.

What is Old Bagdad Town?

     Just a few miles from Rockome there was a settlement called Bagdad.  It

was settled around 1800 on the Kaskaskia River which all settlement were at

that time.  It was a trying community with a school, stores, brick factory

and cemetery.  Around 1850, when the Illinois Central Railroad laid tracks

south of Chicago, the area east of Bagdad which is now Arcola became a hub

for transportation.  Bagdad never was able to get a railroad so eventually

the town died and the businesses and people moved to Arcola, Chesterville or

Arthur.  The school is still standing and used as a private school for the

Amish in the area and is known as the Bagdad school.