Laura Ingalls Wilder Home Review
When I saw that we'd be traveling near one of the places she called home, I thought it would be a cool place to visit.
I loved Little House on the Prairie when I was growing up, and I even have the whole collector’s edition of Laura’s books. I still love to watch the show from time to time when I think about it. So when I saw that we’d be traveling near one of the places she called home, I thought it would be a cool place to visit.
So, yesterday we stopped in De Smet, South Dakota, to visit the museum and see the places they’ve preserved there. It’s just a small little town, but it has so much history! Such a fun experience.
We didn’t do the actual tour, but we did walk around the area and look at all the buildings people can see. We saw the Surveyor’s house, which is the oldest building in De Smet. It’s also the house where the Ingalls lived in their first winter in the Dakotas in 1879.
The Ingalls homestead, where they moved in 1880 and lived until 1887, is part of the memorial site, and you can visit it as part of the tour or on your own. They have a variety of things you can do here to help take you back to the pioneer days, too.
The first schoolhouse in De Smet is still standing, and it’s where Laura attended school. They have a beautiful statue of her out front as well as some beautiful gardens. There is also a replica of the Brewster schoolhouse, where Laura attended and later taught school. The crazy thing is she was only 15 years old when she started teaching!
Also part of the tour is the Ingalls home, where the family lived from 1887 to 1928, after Laura grew up and married Almanzo. It’s a five-bedroom home that was built room by room as the family had the money to add on.
The family graves are in the cemetery in De Smet and you can tour that area as well. It’s a beautiful place with an amazing view of the area.
If you’re a fan of Little House on the Prairie and have enjoyed reading books by Laura Ingalls Wilder, this is a really fun place to visit. They’ve done a beautiful job of preserving her history and sharing her story.