If you're planning the trip to Minnesota to see exactly where Laura lived, you're likely asking, is the ingalls house still standing in walnut grove ? It's a question that thousands of fans of the Little House books plus the classic TV show ask each and every year before they will pack their cars and head out to the Midwest. The short answer is a bit complicated, but the short-short version is: no, the original house isn't generally there, but the property itself tells a much bigger story than a heap of old lumber ever could.
The Reality of the Plum Creek Site
Whenever many people think of Walnut Grove, they're picturing the iconic opening credits associated with the television show along with the girls operating down a grassy hill. However, the real great the Ingalls family in Minnesota is centered around a particular spot "on the banks of Plum Creek. " In case you go looking intended for a sturdy wooden cabin using a fireplace and a picket fence, you're likely to be a small disappointed.
The "house" that the Ingalls family famously lived in during their time in Walnut Grove wasn't actually a house at all in first—it was the earth . It was literally a room designed into the part of a standard bank. Over a centuries of Minnesota winters, spring floods, and the simple passing of your time have gotten back that structure. Today, if you visit the original site upon the Gordon household farm, you won't visit a building. Rather, you'll find a distinct depression in the earth exactly where that dugout once sat.
It's actually quite moving to remain there. Although the roof is eliminated and the wall space have long considering that collapsed back to the soil, you can still see the form of where these people lived. It's a quiet, peaceful place that makes a person realize precisely how small their world actually was.
The reason why the Original Structures Disappeared
You might wonder why no one thought to protect the actual wood house Pa built later on. Back in the late 1800s, people didn't really think of such humble homes as historic landmarks. They were functional structures made from untreated wood. When the Ingalls family moved on—as they frequently did—the next inhabitants utilized the buildings until they were no more safe, or these were torn down to make room regarding something better.
The wooden house that Pa ultimately designed with those popular "store-bought" boards (the ones that price him so much stress when the grasshoppers came) didn't survive the components. Wood rots, especially in the moist environment near the creek. By the time Little House upon the Prairie became a worldwide phenomenon, the original materials had been long gone.
What You'll Really See in Walnut Grove
Just because the original house isn't standing doesn't mean presently there isn't plenty in order to see. The town of Walnut Grove has done an incredible job associated with keeping the history alive. If you head to the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum , you'll find a collection of buildings that assist paint an image of what life was like for Laura, Mary, Carrie, plus Ma and Pennsylvania.
The museum grounds feature various structures, including: * A replica dugout (so you may see what this actually felt like inside). * An early settler's house. * A one-room schoolhouse. * A chapel. * The depot.
Strolling through these replicas is probably the closest you'll reach stepping back in to the 1870s. The curators have long gone to great measures to use period-accurate furniture and tools. It's one thing to see all about a "button lamp" in the book, but it's another thing completely to see one sitting on the rough-hewn table in a dim area.
The Masters Hotel
Whilst the Ingalls' own home is gone, there is 1 very important "Ingalls-adjacent" building that offers survived. The Masters Hotel , where the family lived plus worked for a brief period after their own crops failed, still stands. Laura worked there as the young girl, helping with the chores and the boarders. It's been restored and is a primary stop regarding anyone doing the full historical visit. Seeing a developing that Laura's personal feet actually wandered across is a pretty cool experience for almost any die-hard fan.
The Gordon Plantation and Plum Creek
The web site of the original dugout is located on private property possessed by the Gordon family. They've been incredibly gracious over the decades, allowing fans to drive down their grime road to observe the creek. There's a small charge to enter, but it's worth each penny.
When you make it happen, you can stroll across a little footbridge over Plum Creek. If it's been a wet season, the drinking water rushes exactly like Laura described. You can observe the big rock where she utilized to perform and the areas where she most likely looked for "leaches" (though I wouldn't recommend looking for all those yourself).
There's something extremely atmospheric about the tall prairie grass blowing in the wind. You start to understand why the Ingalls family dropped in love with the land, even if the land didn't love them back again. The vastness of the horizon is exactly the same as it was when Pa first parked the wagon there.
The "Little House" TV Show vs. History
It's worth bringing up that if you're a fan associated with the Michael Landon TV series, the Walnut Grove the thing is on screen wasn't filmed in Mn at all. It was filmed in California with Big Sky Farm. The rolling hills and oak trees in the show look nothing can beat the flat, windswept prairies of the real Walnut Grove.
Because of the show's popularity, lots of people arrive in Minnesota expecting to observe the "set" through the series. While the museum provides some memorabilia through the show, don't expect to find the town associated with "Oleson's Mercantile" or the "Nellie Oleson" house standing in the middle associated with a field. The TV show was obviously a beautiful reimagining, but the real Walnut Grove is a lot more humble and authentic.
The Pieces of the Prior
Even though the main house is gone, presently there are odds and ends associated with the Ingalls' life scattered throughout the area. In the museum, you can observe the church bell that Pa helped pay for with his "church money, " even when the family was struggling to eat. Seeing that bell makes the stories feel therefore much more real. It's a physical connect to a guy who lived along with a lot associated with integrity and a little bit associated with wanderlust.
Is It Worth the Trip?
If the answer to "is the ingalls house still standing in walnut grove" is no, a person might be discussing whether the journey is still worth the drive. Honestly, in case you grew up with these stories, this absolutely is .
Right now there is a particular feeling you get when you remain on the banking institutions of Plum Creek. You realize that the stories weren't just fiction; they will were the shared a home experiences of the family that helped shape the American West. The lack of the "real" house really makes the experience feel a little more truthful. It forces a person to use your own imagination, much such as Laura did when she was creating her memoirs later in life.
If you go during the summer, specifically in September, you can catch the Fragments of a Dream pageant. It's an outdoor play where the locals reenact the history of the Ingalls household. It's performed right near the creek, so that as the sun sets over the prairie, it's simple to forget exactly what year it is.
Conclusions with regard to Your Visit
If you decide to make the pilgrimage, bring good walking shoes and several bug spray—the mosquitoes in Minnesota don't care if you're a fan associated with classic literature. Furthermore, take the period to drive through the surrounding farmland. The landscape hasn't changed as very much as you may think.
While the physical walls of the Ingalls house have long since returned to the earth, the nature of the place is quite definitely in existence. You don't need a standing house to feel the connection to Laura's world. The breeze through the lawn and the audio of the water in the creek tell the story just fine on their particular own. Walnut Grove remains a location of quiet reflection for anybody who ever desired to live in a little house on the prairie.