The History of Rockome Gardens
How Arthur and Elizabeth Martin's 208-acre farm near Arcola, Illinois became Rockome Gardens: rockwork, gardens, owners and changes from 1937 to 2006.
The land that is now known as Rockome Gardens was once used just for farming. Little did those farmers know that this land would have thousand of visitors passing through it for many years to come. The founders of Rockome Gardens are Arthur and Elizabeth Martin.
Mr. and Mrs. Martin loved to travel so a possible inspiration for the rock formations is a Catholic Holy Ghost Park in Dickeyville, WI. This park was constructed in the 1920's so it would make sense that the Martins might have traveled there and got inspired to do their own rock work.
In 1952 the Martins moved on to other interests and gave Rockome to the Mennonite Board of Missions and Charities of Elkhart, IN. They used this as a retirement village. They built two cabins which they used for the missionaries. The missionaries soon realized this was not the kind of retirement village they wanted.
They sold Rockome to Elvan and Irene Yoder in 1959. Mr. Yoder's first instinct was to start farming, because that is what he had been doing his whole life. He soon realized the potential of this land and started opening it to the public. The first attractions the Yoder's added to the park were buggy rides, tours of Amish home, and a small gift shop. The first gift shop was located where the candy shop is now. The two windows that swing up were used as the front of the gift shop. It was no bigger than an 8'x10' room. Elvan quoted that if he would sell $100 worth of gifts it would wipe out his entire inventory. Then the gift shop moved to what is now Harvest Time. This was a slight upgrade for Irene but she would eventually need something bigger. Irene's Gift shop was built in 1968 at the North end of the lot near the new parking lot. In 1968 they added a lot of new things to Rockome Gardens like, the tree house, lookout tower, antique museum, haunted barn, and ice cream shop. The dairy barn which was original to the property was turned into the Rock Shop. This shop was operated by Mr. and Mrs. Whetstone whom traveled to Arizona in the winter to collect their rocks. In the years to follow Bill Burnett would operate this shop.
Bagdad was a settlement just on the other side of the river to Rockome. It was settled in the 1800's. Here is an excerpt from "Murder and Mayhem in Old Arcola"; "Bagdad had existed at the point where the trace crosses the Kaskaskia for years when the inhabitants received word that the railroad was coming through. Lew Grant ran a brickyard, and the village boasted a small store, a grist mill, and a blacksmiths shop. The location at the time that it was chosen was perfect-close to the easiest mode of travel, the river, and populated with enough timber to provide building material, fuel, and protection. But things were about to change. According to Frank F. Collins, long-time editor of the Arcola Record Herald, "the year the Illinois Central tracks were laid through Arcola, it was a cold, bitter winter, the river froze over, and there was a big snow and sleet that stayed on for a month. So the settlers made some big sleds and skidded all the Bagdad buildings over to the railroad-that is, all except the brickyard. Where it not for the railroad, there would have been no Arcola, and we might all be living in Bagdad."
Elvan enjoyed history and wanted to preserve it. In doing so he bought three old "one room school houses", East Prairie School and the Bolinger Schools. He also tried to replicate Bagdad by having a grist mill, blacksmiths shop, and some small specialty shops.
In 1970 Elvan and Irene saw there was a need to fill. They needed a place for people to eat. At this point they had the snack bar but they wanted something better. They started serving soup and shoofly pie out of their bakery and then finally opened the Family Style Restaurant in 1977.
The Yoder's like the Martins enjoyed traveling. The Yoder's took several trips to Silver Dollar City in Missouri and an Amish settlement in Pennsylvania for ideas. They also were inspired to build the bottle houses by visiting Knott's Berry Farm in California. There is no doubt that Elvan and Irene enjoyed running their family business. It was hard work for the whole family but the sacrifice proved successful.
There have been many changes to the park over the years. The tree house had to be lowered because the limbs of the tree were growing at different rates. The haunted barn is now the haunted cave. The Old Hickory Railroad outdoor G-gauge train was put in. One of the bigger changes was the switch to new owners in 2006. This group also saw the potential of Rockome and added new attractions such as kayaking on the river and horseback riding. They noticed the capability Rockome had for education and the non-profit Rockome Learning Foundation Inc. was formed.