This is a shock out in the middle of nowhere. It is just off the R2R trail but there are no signs to it, and it has thus been spared the vandalism. It was the first of a whole area that was to be developed by SIU into an attraction. There was a lodge and office that was built close to Rocky Comfort Road, but the story is some local people, distressed that their hunting spots would possibly be closed to hunting may have had something to do with the fire that destroyed the office lodge. This and the untimely death of the man with the vision of what he was going to develop here caused the project to be abandoned after this one structure was built. (Mid ’60’s)
It is still owned by the touch of Nature Program and some basic upkeep like the recently made drainage landscaping to the North West have been done. Please be appreciative of this structure and take only pictures and leave only footprints. There is also a basement like thing I have labeled as church, which was actually a P.O. at one time when a road and small settlement was nearby. The cemetery was actually just foundation stones for outbuildings there, That’s why I’m not a trustworthy source of historic info here, I have this history from a Touch of Nature spokesman and newspaper articles.
