My Genealogy Hound

Rocky Ridge Farm, Home of Laura Ingalls Wilder, Mansfield, Missouri, photos

The Farm House on Rocky Ridge Farm, home of Almanzo and Laura Ingalls Wilder. The Wilder's left their home in De Smet, South Dakota on July 17, 1894 and arrived in Mansfield, Missouri on August 30, 1894. Shortly after their arrival, they purchased the farm land just outside of Mansfield where this house was eventually built. For a time they lived in town but eventually moved into an existing older one room cabin located on the farm while this house was constructed. Finally in 1913, nearly twenty years after their arrival, the house was completed. The Wilder's continued to live in this house until late 1928. Their only surviving child, Rose Wilder Lane, was also a successful writer. With the proceeds of her writing, Rose built a house for her parents known as the Rock House (see photos below) on a nearby portion of the farm which was their home from late 1928 to 1936. Rose continued to live in the farm house until she moved away in 1935. In 1936, Almanzo and Laura moved back into the farm house and they continued to live here until their deaths. Almanzo died here on October 23, 1949 at the age of 92. Laura continued to live alone in the house until she died here on February 10, 1957, just three days after her 90th birthday. Both were buried in the nearby Mansfield Cemetery. See the additional photos below.

A photo of the front view of the farm house, home of Almanzo and Laura Ingalls Wilder on Rocky Ridge Farm. In was in this house that Laura wrote the fifth through eighth books in the Little House book series: By The Shores of Silver Lake (1939), The Long Winter (1940), Little Town On The Prairie (1941), and These Happy Golden Years (1943). The first four books in the Little House book series were written while living in the Rock House. The farm house and its contents are just as they were at the time when Laura died in 1957. The personal possessions of Almanzo and Laura can still be seen in each room of the house. The home is beautifully preserved and is available for tours. See the additional photos below.

The Rock House, also located on Rocky Ridge Farm and home of Almanzo and Laura Ingalls Wilder from 1928 to 1936. It was while living in this house that Laura wrote the first four books in the Little House series: Little House in the Big Woods (1932), Farmer Boy (1933), Little House on the Prairie (1935), and On the Banks of Plum Creek (1937). The first book in this series was published when Laura was 65 years old. While these were the first books she wrote, her writing career had actually started in 1911 as she began writing a regular column about rural life in the Ozarks for Missouri Ruralist magazine. See the additional photo below.

A side view of the Rock House, home of Almanzo and Laura Ingalls Wilder from 1928 to 1936. Their daughter, Rose Wilder Lane, had this home built for her parents as a smaller home for them to enjoy during their retirement years. The living room of the house located in the front corner seen here was where Laura did her writing. After Rose moved away, Almanzo and Laura moved back into the farm house where they remained for their final years. The Rock House has been restored to its appearance during the time that it was home to Almanzo and Laura Ingalls Wilder and is now available for tours.

A new museum on the Rocky Ridge Farm opened in the Spring of 2016, dedicated to preserving the history of the homes and presenting the lives of Almanzo and Laura Ingalls Wilder and their daughter, Rose Wilder Lane.