Homesites
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Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum — Pepin, WI
Pepin, Wisconsin, is the birthplace of Laura Ingalls Wilder, who was born in a log cabin near Pepin on February 7, 1867. Laura spent her earliest years in the Big Woods with Pa, Ma, and her sister Mary. Her book Little House in the Big Woods is based on the family’s time in this area. Pepin is also the official starting point of the Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Highway.
At the museum, visitors can explore exhibits about Laura’s early life and the Ingalls family. Nearby is the Wayside Cabin, where special summer weekends called Home at Laura’s Place bring the pioneer era to life. Each September, Pepin celebrates Laura Days, a popular annual event.
While planning your visit, take time to walk along scenic Lake Pepin and enjoy the many charming restaurants and shops in the surrounding area.
The museum is open May 1 through October 31 each year.
Almanzo Wilder Homestead — Franklin County, NY
Rural Franklin County, New York, is home to the childhood farm of Almanzo Wilder, the setting for Farmer Boy. This historic homestead offers visitors a glimpse into Almanzo’s early life growing up on the Wilder family farm.
During your visit, you can tour the original Wilder farmhouse, walk along the Trout River, and see reconstructed barns and garden areas that represent the working farm described in the book. The site also includes a one-room schoolhouse, museum area, and gift shop.
Visitors are encouraged to pack a lunch and relax at the covered picnic pavilion while enjoying the peaceful countryside. The nearby towns of Burke and Malone are just a short drive away and offer additional historic sites to explore.
Seasonal hours vary each year. Opening day for the 2026 season will be May 23.
Little House on the Prairie Museum — Independence, KS
After leaving Wisconsin, the Ingalls family traveled by wagon to southeastern Kansas, where they settled near Independence. Their time here inspired Little House on the Prairie. Carrie Ingalls was born during the family’s time in Kansas.
Today, visitors to the museum site can see a replica log cabin, barn, one-room schoolhouse, post office, and gift shop. One of the most unique historic features is Pa’s hand-dug well, which is now encased in concrete but remains an important landmark of the original homestead.
The museum is open March through October 31 each year.
Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum — Walnut Grove, MN
The Ingalls family’s time in Walnut Grove, Minnesota, inspired On the Banks of Plum Creek.
The museum complex includes seven buildings filled with exhibits about Laura’s life and the town’s history, including an original Walnut Grove jail cell. There, children can enjoy hands-on activities in Grandma’s Attic, while fans of the television series will enjoy props from NBC’s Little House on the Prairie, including the mantle from the television show. Across the street, the Masters Store and Hall, which Charles Ingalls helped construct, is currently under renovation but can still be viewed from the outside.
Just north of town, visitors can also see the dugout site and wade in Plum Creek during daylight hours, weather permitting.
Each July, Walnut Grove hosts its annual Laura Ingalls Wilder Pageant, which tells a story based on the Ingalls family’s time in the community.
The museum is open April through October.
De Smet, SD
Books: By the Shores of Silver Lake, The Long Winter, Little Town on the Prairie, These Happy Golden Years, and The First Four Years
Laura Ingalls Wilder Memorial Society
The Laura Ingalls Wilder Memorial Society preserves several important historic buildings connected to the Ingalls family’s years in De Smet, South Dakota. Visitors can tour the Surveyors’ House, where the Ingalls family lived when they arrived in Dakota Territory.
Other sites include the schoolhouse attended by Laura, Carrie, and Grace, a replica of the Brewster/Bouchie School, and the family home on Third Street, often called “The House That Pa Built.” This house was the final home of the Ingalls family.
The Memorial Society is open year-round.
The Ingalls Homestead
Just outside De Smet is the Ingalls Homestead, where the family lived from 1880 until 1887, when they moved into the house on Third Street.
Visitors can see replicas of Ma’s house and the barn, as well as a dugout and prairie shanty similar to those described in the books. Wagon rides take guests to a one-room schoolhouse and church, offering an immersive pioneer experience.
Guests may also tent camp on the grounds or rent a wagon, cabin, or bunkhouse.
The homestead is open May through September. Check the website for current details.
Other De Smet Sites and Activities
De Smet hosts its own summer pageant season, held north of the Ingalls Homestead, celebrating the stories of the Ingalls family and prairie life.
At the northwest edge of town, visitors can see the surviving cottonwood trees grown from seedlings planted by Pa from the famous Lone Tree. A memorial marker stands nearby.
The De Smet Cemetery is the final resting place of Charles, Caroline, Mary, and Carrie Ingalls, as well as Laura and Almanzo’s infant son, Grace and her husband Nate Dow, and many others mentioned in the books.
Less than two miles north of town is the site of Almanzo Wilder’s homestead claim, where Laura and Almanzo lived after their marriage and where their daughter Rose was born.
Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Home and Museum — Mansfield, MO
When Laura and Almanzo left De Smet for Missouri, Laura kept a travel diary of their journey, later published posthumously in 1962 as On the Way Home. Mansfield, Missouri, became the final home of the Wilders.
At Rocky Ridge Farm, visitors can tour the farmhouse where Laura wrote the Little House books and see the many thoughtful details Almanzo built into the home for her. Guests can also walk the path between the farmhouse and The Rock House, which their daughter Rose Wilder Lane built for them.
The museum houses one of the most comprehensive collections of Ingalls, Wilder, and Lane artifacts.
The site is open March 1 through November 15. Visitors may also stop at the Mansfield Cemetery to see the final resting places of Laura, Almanzo, and Rose.
Beyond the Books
Laura Ingalls Wilder Park and Museum — Burr Oak, IA
The Ingalls family lived in Burr Oak, Iowa, from 1876–1877. This period followed the death of baby Freddie, making it a difficult time for the family. During their stay, Charles, Caroline, and the girls helped operate the Masters Hotel, serving travelers along the stagecoach route. Grace Ingalls was born during the family’s time in Burr Oak.
Visitors begin their tour in the restored mercantile building, followed by the Masters Hotel and a one-room schoolhouse. Each summer the museum hosts its own Laura Days celebration.
The museum is open May through October. Check the website for specific dates.
Spring Valley Methodist Church Museum — Spring Valley, MN
The Wilder family moved from New York to Spring Valley, Minnesota, in 1870. Royal, Almanzo, and Eliza Jane Wilder lived here before eventually heading west to seek their fortunes in Dakota Territory and claim the promise of “free land.”
Later, from May 1890 to October 1891, Laura, Almanzo, and Rose returned to live with the Wilder family in Spring Valley following a series of difficult years in De Smet.
The Spring Valley Methodist Church, built in 1876, served as the Wilder family’s church home. Today, the upper level houses exhibits telling the story of their time in the community, while the lower level contains a museum dedicated to the history of Spring Valley.
The museum is open Memorial Day through Labor Day.
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