Day 3 May 11, 2026 Part 1
Dear Adventure Avenues,
Ever since I was little, I have wanted to go to Missouri. I know that may seem a bit odd, but I am a HUGE Little House on the Prairie fan, and Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote the books in her home in Mansfield, Missouri, just an hour outside Springfield, Missouri. This trip is making little me soooo happy!
Today is the day my childhood dream of exploring Laura Ingalls Wilder and Almanzo Wilder’s historic home and museum finally came true!
The day started with breakfast at the hotel. I ordered tea with my omelet and loved how it came in this cute little pot! Unfortunately, it did taste a little bit like coffee.
After breakfast, we began the hour long drive to Mansfield, Missouri. On our way there, we saw Amish people riding in their horse and buggies on the side of the highway.
When we pulled into the small town of Mansfield, I immediately recognized the town square from my research and knew this was on my list of things to visit. Since we were a little early (the museum did not open until 9am), we stopped and snapped a picture in front of Laura. We met some people there who kindly offered to take our picture with Laura.
A little further up the road was the Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Home & Museum. It still wasn’t quite 9am, so we took some pictures in front of this sign and the visitor’s center.
My dad (and I as well) was particularly happy about the visitor’s center and the fact that they had indoor plumbing. We had been slightly concerned there would only be portapotties to use, but the bathrooms inside were quite nice!
After buying our tickets, we checked out the museum in the visitor’s center. Some of the highlights were hearing Laura’s voice on the introduction video and seeing Pa’s fiddle.
Historic Farmhouse
Our next stop was the historic farmhouse. Laura and Almanzo Wilder built this house themselves, adding on to it whenever they had the funds to do so.
I was particularly excited about this one because I had just read On the Way Home by Laura Ingalls Wilder. This book details the Wilder family’s journey from DeSmet, South Dakota to Mansfield, Missouri. I attempted to recreate a shot in the book, and this is what I was able to put together. Unfortunately, there is now a tree where I believe the original picture was taken.
Garage
After taking my video, we explored the (detached) garage, located next to the Farmhouse. Almanzo would have used this as his work room as well.
Tour of the Historic Farmhouse
We were able to explore the main floor of the house which included the kitchen, Laura and Almanzo’s bedroom, Laura’s office, the parlor, and the library. The cutout of Laura in the kitchen is actually how tall she was. Additionally, the countertops were all lower than normal since they were built with Laura’s height in mind. Tours are held roughly every hour, starting at 9:30. We went to the 10:30 tour.
Walk to the Rock House
After touring the farmhouse, we walked to the Rock House.
The walk to the Rock House was very steep, but once you got up the big hill, there was lots of shade, and the walk was quite nice. Alternatively, you could drive to get here.
The Rock House
This house was given to Laura and Almanzo by their daughter, Rose, and she had purchased it from a Sears catalogue and then commissioned a local builder to use materials from the area to build it. The Rock House had “Open House” Tours where it was just open to walk through.
This house was a lot smaller than the Farmhouse, and I preferred the other. This house was the house that Laura wrote the first Little House books in. She later finished the series at the other house after her and Almanzo moved back into the Farmhouse.
Picnic on the grounds
There did not appear to be many food options in Mansfield, so to be safe, we had brought our leftovers from Lambert’s and ate at one of the tables outside the Historic Farmhouse. I also had my bag of chips from the baseball game that I was able to enjoy with my leftover fried chicken.
Monarch Butterfly
This place is also on the monarch butterfly route, so there is a special flower garden at the base of the visitor’s center to help the monarch butterflies.
Gravesites
Our last item on the list of things to do in Mansfield, Missouri was to go to the graveyard to see where the Wilder family was buried.
Until Part 2,
A
P.S.
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