Missouri Landmarks

Rocky Ridge Farm

Clock purchased Christmas 1886, as told in The First Four Years

The Laura Ingalls Wilder House, located in Mansfield, Missouri, is also known as Rocky Ridge Farm.  It was the home of author Laura Ingalls Wilder from 1896 until her death in 1957.

Wilder, the author of the Little House on the Prairie series, began writing here at the age of 65.

If you loved the books you won’t want to miss this museum.  Many of the family’s belongings that were made famous by the books are on display, now familiar to and beloved by millions of readers.

Laura Elizabeth Ingalls was born in a log cabin near Pepin, Wisconsin, on February 7, 1867.  Her parents, Charles Phillip Ingalls and Caroline Quiner Ingalls, possessed a pionnering spirit that urged them ever westward.

Laura and Almanzo in the Dakota Territory

On August 25, 1885, Laura Elizabeth Ingalls and Almanzo James Wilder were married in Dakota Territory by the Reverend E. Brown of the Congregational Church.

Interior of the Laura Ingalls Wilder Home

In 1894, Almanzo and Laura Ingalls Wilder, with their daughter Rose, settled on Rocky Ridge Farm near Mansfield, Missouri. They established a successful farm, built their own home and settled down permanently in the Ozark hills.

Eventually, Rose grew up and moved away, and became the well-known author, journalist, and world traveler Rose Wilder Lane.

In 1932, Laura Ingalls Wilder published the first of her beloved “Little House” books, which described the pioneering of the Ingalls and Wilder families during the 1870′s – 1890′s.

Laura Ingalls Wilder's Writing Desk

All of the nine manuscripts for these famous books were penned on Rocky Ridge Farm. Their publication made the Wilders well-known international literary characters.

Laura wrote about the places she grew up in, including:

LITTLE HOUSE IN THE BIG WOODS: Pepin, Wisconsin
LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE: Independence, Kansas
ON THE BANKS OF PLUM CREEK: Walnut Grove, Minnesota
BY THE SHORES OF SILVER LAKE, THE LONG WINTER, LITTLE TOWN ON THE PRAIRIE, THESE HAPPY GOLDEN YEARS, THE FIRST FOUR YEARS:  DeSmet, South Dakota

Directions

Rocky Ridge Farm, where Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote her famous “Little House” books, is only 45 miles east of Springfield, MO on highway 60. From Springfield, take Highway 60 east to Mansfield and take the second Mansfield exit. Turn right off of the exit ramp and continue on that street into town, it dead-ends at the city square. Turn left at the square and continue for less than a mile to the historic home. The farmhouse and museum are on the right, parking is on the left.