In 1889 Virgil moved into the state. He took a job drilling wells to supply water. Soon he had his own rig and business.

On his first big job, the guy who hired him could not afford to pay for the work. Eventually Virgil accepted as payment the Lone Oak Farm that consisted of 268 acres along the creek. Some of the land was cleared for farming. But most was forest. And there were no buildings on the land.

Virgil was a focused, hard working man. He and his wife (with help from nearby farmers) built a house and a barn and chicken coops. Virgil and his family turned the land into a productive farm.

In 1917, Kenton (Vernon's 2nd oldest son) took over the farm. Over the next 30 years, Kenton supported his parents while turning the farm into the highest producing and most profitable chicken and egg farm in the state.

In 1951, Kenton's son Wendell took over the chicken and egg business. At that point the business was extremely profitable. By January 1959, Wendell decided to build a mansion to replace the well worn farm house which had been built in 1896. Wendell wanted a huge mansion which would impress everyone who might see it or read about it. And he wanted an open air foyer to have a castle-like feel, as he had always enjoyed King Arthur stories.

Wendell immediately began work on the mansion. But as he was working on the mansion, Wendell was paying very little attention to the operation of the chicken and egg business. By June, 1959 Wendell had constructed the massive entrance foyer that was twice as large as the entire old farmhouse.

Wendell was quite proud of the entrance foyer. At the same time, he noticed that income from the chicken and egg business had declined, so he reprimanded the farm business manager he had hired. He was certain that the tongue lashing would resolve the matter of declining business revenue. With that matter resolved, Wendell would be able to return his attention to construction of the mansion.

But the world was changing. Chicken and egg prices were falling. Equipment and maintenance costs were increasing. And many aggressive and successful farmers inside and outside of the state were successfully producing chickens and eggs at prices lower than Wendell could meet.

With income dramatically down, work on the mansion stopped. This left the massive foyer standing alone on the highest hill on the farm.

Over the decades the entrance foyer stood abandoned on the highest hill of Lone Oak Farm. All the time the city and road network were growing and expanding. The farm was ultimately sold as a result of unpaid taxes, and eventually a new owner donated some of the land and the building to the city along with funds to develop it into park and highway rest area.

Soon the entrance foyer became Egg Castle of Lone Oak Farm. And for the first time in the 65 years since it was first constructed, the building served as a busy and active community for park visitors and as a busy rest stop for travelers on the nearby highway.