What Little House Sites Have You Seen?

As I was looking through this websitesite, I see that there are a few others who have visited LH sites. So I was wondering what exact sites everyone has been to. This is my list:

Wisconsin
Pepin
Concord
Brookfield (marker for Caroline)
Gravesites of Frederick and Charlotte Holbrook
Gravesites of Lansford and Laura Ingalls (most interesting thing about that was while I passed through the town after visiting the graves, I saw a billboard advertisment for a chiropractor by the name of Ingalls - I wanted to take a picture just for the fun of it but there was nowhere to pull over )

Minnesota
South Troy (where Charles Frederic Ingalls is supposedly buried
Walnut Grove
Passed through Mankato and Sleepy Eye, of course!

Iowa
Burr Oak

Kansas
Independence (I had the most ridiculous time finding this place!)

South Dakota
De Smet (includes all major sites and gravesites)

Missouri
Mansfield (includes all major sites and gravesites)



So, this summer I am going to go to Malone, New York. Has anyone been there yet? How is it?

I am contemplating passing through Cuba, NY. Kind of wish there would be some sort of marker for Charles Ingalls, but I know there isn't. Maybe I will just get a picture of the name of the town.

I didn't go to the Carrie Ingalls thing that they have in Keystone, but to make a long story short, I didn't like Keystone too much. I couldn't wait to get out of there. And that is all I will say about that.

Still debating over whether or not I will pass through Vinton, Iowa at some point. And not too sure whether I will go to Spring Valley, Minnesota or not. Haven't made up my mind yet.

Anyway, I am curious to read exactly who has been to where.

Sadly, I haven't been to any of them. I want to go, but I won't travel by myself and I just haven't had time.

Wow, MissOleson! You may be a newbie on this site, but you're obviously a seasoned vet when it comes to visiting LHOP locales.

I have been to each of the Homesites of Laura. My best buddy, whom I met online, is an Ingalls so I go with her and we get the royal treatment. It's a lot of fun.
Over the past 2 years and again this summer we will be heading out on our LH escursions. 2 years ago we went to Concord, WI, passed thrugh Brookfield, Burr Oak, Independence and Mansfield. I think the coolest place was Burr Oak. It seemed kinda like learning a new part of Laura's life. Of course, seeing Rocky Ridge farm and the Rock house were amazing as well as paying respects to Laura, Almanzo and Rose was very special.
Last year we had a lot of fun. We visited Pepin for a day and met another online friend who we had arranged to meet there. It was so neat to stand on the very ground where Laura and Mary used to play under the trees.
Then we headed to Keystone, SD for a LHOP cast reunion and met 9 cast members. It was one of the most special days of my life, sooo many good memories. From there coming back home we visited De Smet and Walnut Grove. Those places were cool too. There was soo much to see and learn in De Smet. We bought a book that shows the then and now of the streets, telling where different stores etc from the books once stood and what stands there now. That was a fun afternoon.
In WG, I was in awe as I stood where the indentation of the dugout once was, soo very small. It was almost like standing on hallowed ground.

This year we are going back to Mankato to Laurapalooza and I am excited on learning and hearing more info about my favourite author. Can't wait.

I have never seen any of them. I would love to see the site where the show was filmed.

I've only been to Mansfield once. It was magical. The very thought of walking on Laura's kitchen floor or seeing her bed!!! I need to go back...SOON.

I have been to Mansfield and now, live about 30 miles from her house......Hoping to take the tour again with some friends and see how they like it.....one has never been and has lived in Missouri all her life.....

Here I am so happy that I found this site and I have really not been back here. Well, truth be told, I have had a lot going on that kept me away from spending time online these past few months. Hopefully this will be the beginning of my regular visits here.

LIWnut wrote:

I think the coolest place was Burr Oak. It seemed kinda like learning a new part of Laura's life.

I thought that was the most interesting place, too. And wasn't it an interesting little town? You really do feel like you stepped back into another era there.

LIWnut wrote:

Then we headed to Keystone, SD for a LHOP cast reunion and met 9 cast members.

Who did you get to meet there? I would love to be able to get to a reunion sometime. It just seems that whenever things like that are going on, I don't have the available time then.

LIWnut wrote:

We bought a book that shows the then and now of the streets, telling where different stores etc from the books once stood and what stands there now. That was a fun afternoon.

Oh, I never even saw a book like that there. That would be fun to look at.

LIWnut wrote:

In WG, I was in awe as I stood where the indentation of the dugout once was, soo very small. It was almost like standing on hallowed ground.

I found that fascinating. When I got to the top I took one of my best pictures. The view was completely unexpected. I immediately thought of Charles and the family riding the wagon across the land.

LIWnut wrote:

This year we are going back to Mankato to Laurapalooza and I am excited on learning and hearing more info about my favourite author. Can't wait.

How was it?

Gin wrote:

I've only been to Mansfield once. It was magical. The very thought of walking on Laura's kitchen floor or seeing her bed!!! I need to go back...SOON.

I am fascinated by that sort of thing all the time. It is so fascinating to be able to be walking on the same floor/ground where someone that you really admire has walked. I try to explain that to people, but they never seem to understand what I mean. Tell me something, though. Weren't the counters adorable in the kitchen? I knew they weren't tall, but I didn't expect them to do that with their counters. For some reason, seeing that, it almost made them MORE real to me. That is how I felt about it. Am I making sense at all?

Rhonda wrote:

I have been to Mansfield and now, live about 30 miles from her house......Hoping to take the tour again with some friends and see how they like it.....one has never been and has lived in Missouri all her life.....

I suppose that is like a person living their entire life in NYC and never going to the Empire State Building. Did you manage to go again with any of your friends yet?


Well, I did make it to Malone, NY. I don't think I will ever go again. It really is so out-of-the-way that it really isn't something I care to make the effort of seeing again (of course, if I had a car that had an easier time going uphill I might reconsider). I made it there just in time. It was a very warm, rainy day. I believe I was the last tour of the day. I am happy to say that I got a private tour, too. I have to say that the Wilder homestead is one of the nicest that I have seen. I love the home. I love the shape and size of it. The surrounding buildings are all replicas based on Almanzo's measurements. And if I remember the guide correctly, she said that his measurements were all from memory. Almanzo was wrong by only one foot, I believe. Kind of amazing when you think of it. There is also a small museum there and gift shop. I did manage to buy Dean Butler's documentary "Almanzo Wilder: Life Before Laura" DVD. I have yet to watch it. I haven't had the time. If it is on Youtube, I didn't notice it. Besides, as soon as life calms down I will relax and watch it one night on my TV rather than the small computer screen.


So, there it is. Except for the few smaller sites that I mentioned in my first post (Spring Valley, Vinton), I have now seen every major LH site. I feel like I REALLY accomplished something in life. I know some people would think that was silly, but I have been obsessing over these places since I was a kid and now I have seen them all. I am happy.

I am contemplating passing through Cuba, NY. Kind of wish there would be some sort of marker for Charles Ingalls, but I know there isn't.
In November there will be a marker placed in Cuba, NY. I have met the many who is responsible for many of the markers placed at the sites where LHOP people or events have been. He is busy raising $$ for the marker now but it has been ordered and will be delivered in November.

Laurapalooza was amazing. It was a literrary conference with many LIW authors attending, as well as Dean Butler who was there to show a documentary that he has produced about Laura.

In Keystone last year at the LHOP cast reunion I met Alison Arngrim, Karen Grassle, Charlotte Stewart, Patrick Labroteaux, Hersha Parady, Lindsey and Sidney Greenbush and Brenda and Wendy Turnburauugh (sp?) Meeting all of these wonderful people was just amazing. I had my picture taken with them all and had a few snapped with individuals/twins. It was a wonderful weekend. I won a trivia contest that they had there and won 4 tickets to see the LHOP musical. I sat in the 2nd row and was about 10 ft away from Melissa Gilbert. I didn't meet her personally but being that close was amazing enough for me.

i live in canada so never seen them,

None of them...Sadly I live far, far away from Little House sites. But I have lots of pics about them, which of course is not the same but is ALMOST the same...

Vanesa.

I unfortunately also have never been to those sites either, but I really want to do so.

MissOlsen, I sent you a private message.

I Have Only been to Walnut Grove Found it Amazing to be in the Same Town where laura once was and the Dugout Site was very nice as well I Just Loved Plum Creek there was Such a Nice Cool Breeze on the Bridge the day we were there.

Jacob! Did you really visite Walnut Grove? I've seen pics of it and it seems t be a nice little town. A member of another LHOTP forum was there too, and she wrote that people was very friendly there...How you've liked your experience there?

Vanesa.

Yes Vanesa i Visited the Real Walnut Grove it was a Wondeful Expierence the People were all very Friendly the Laura Ingalls Wilder Sites were amazing it was all wonderful i plan on going again some day

It sounds good. I wish I could visit Walnut Grove some day!

Vanesa.

LIWnut wrote:

I am contemplating passing through Cuba, NY. Kind of wish there would be some sort of marker for Charles Ingalls, but I know there isn't.
In November there will be a marker placed in Cuba, NY. I have met the many who is responsible for many of the markers placed at the sites where LHOP people or events have been. He is busy raising $$ for the marker now but it has been ordered and will be delivered in November.

NOOOO!!!!! I wasn't really planning on going back that way! Oh, I wish it would've been sooner. Oh, well. You know what that means now? I do eventually plan on getting back that way in the next couple of years (I did NOT really do anything at all - it was TOO HOT - so the plan is to go back and actually do what was planned but in better weather). So, now I am going to have to swing by Cuba, NY to get a picture of that! Crazy? Maybe. But I don't care!

LIWnut wrote:

Laurapalooza was amazing. It was a literrary conference with many LIW authors attending, as well as Dean Butler who was there to show a documentary that he has produced about Laura.

That is so interesting. I think I may put that down on my list of things to do, too, if I could get to one. I went to one for Jane Austen when it was in Milwaukee about 5 years ago. I loved it. I would love to go to one for Laura.

LIWnut wrote:

In Keystone last year at the LHOP cast reunion I met Alison Arngrim, Karen Grassle, Charlotte Stewart, Patrick Labroteaux, Hersha Parady, Lindsey and Sidney Greenbush and Brenda and Wendy Turnburauugh (sp?) Meeting all of these wonderful people was just amazing. I had my picture taken with them all and had a few snapped with individuals/twins. It was a wonderful weekend. I won a trivia contest that they had there and won 4 tickets to see the LHOP musical. I sat in the 2nd row and was about 10 ft away from Melissa Gilbert. I didn't meet her personally but being that close was amazing enough for me.

I am so jealous of anyone that's gotten to meet even one person from the show! And then you go and meet that many! I saw the LHOTP musical last April. I wasn't as close as you (orchestra but in the back), but I did manage to get myself one of those posters that the cast signed. So, even though Melissa didn't personalize it for me, I DO have her autograph!

LIWnut wrote:

MissOlsen, I sent you a private message.

Just sent you one back.

JW wrote:

I Have Only been to Walnut Grove Found it Amazing to be in the Same Town where laura once was and the Dugout Site was very nice as well I Just Loved Plum Creek there was Such a Nice Cool Breeze on the Bridge the day we were there.

It was so nice when I went there the first time (I will admit that I have been there twice - De Smet and Mansfield, too, twice). The second time it was kind of warm, but I actually climbed to the top of the dugout that day and I took one of my favorite pictures!

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Can't you just picture Ma, Pa and the girls riding in their covered wagon across this land?

Wish I could see the sites too...but we live down under in Australia.
If flight Simulator counts, I have flown to De Smet Wilder Field, Mankato Regional and Sleepy Muni.
Do you use Google Earth? You can see the real Plum Creek outside of Walnut Grove, MN.
Can someone show some photos of the sites please?

I will let you know what is happening and when in Cuba, NY. I am sure that I will hear more news when the time gets closer.

LIWnut wrote:

I will let you know what is happening and when in Cuba, NY. I am sure that I will hear more news when the time gets closer.

OK. Sounds good. Thanks!

I'm specially interested in Cuba N.Y, since it is Pa's birth place and I'm very curious to know how it really looks...

Vanesa.

I've been to Mansfield and Kansas.

I've read the account of a person who visited the Ingalls site in Kansas and she depicted it as "interesting". Did you find it interesting too, Lori? As for Mansfield lots of people visited the place and there's no one who wouldn't like it.

Vanesa.