Tag: little-house-on-the-prairie

The Mansfield Historical Society and Museum, Mansfield, Missouri

by jbcowgill, posted in Uncategorized

The U.S. state of Missouri is located in the heartland of the United States of America.  It is a state that has so much to offer.  You have the city of Saint Louis, nicknamed the ‘Gateway of the West’.  It is famous for the Gateway Arch, a huge arch that rises over the city that is located on the Mississippi River just south of where the Missouri River flows into it.  The Saint Louis Cardinals, the city’s professional baseball team, is the second most championed team in Major League Baseball.  (The New York Yankees are number one.)  On the opposite side of the state is Kansas City that is mostly in Missouri with sections in the U.S. state of Kansas.  The city is known for being a city of fountains having more fountains that any other city in the nation, and it has been known for its barbeque, but it has been most famous for the Kansas City Chiefs, an American football team that is part of the National Football League.  The state has its small towns.  The most famous small town in the state is Hannibal.  What is famous about Hannibal?  No, it is not named after the famous criminal Hannibal Lector.  It is where the famous author Samuel Clemens, famously known as Mark Twain, grew up, and his famous stories, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer was based.  You have Branson, a city kind of known as the Las Vegas of theme parks.  (In case you are wondering, Las Vegas, Nevada is famous for its numerous casinos.)  Then you have the town of Mansfield.

What is special about the small town of Mansfield, Missouri?  As you visit the town of Mansfield, Missouri, it may appear to be an average American town.  It was the home of baseball pitcher Carl Mays, and it was also the home of Laura Ingalls Wilder, the author who gave us Little House on the Prairie which was made into a television series, and her home is open for tours and she is also buried in a cemetery in town.  As you go to the center of the town, it may not appear to be much, but the town was much different in its heyday.

Welcome to the Mansfield Historical Society and Museum.  As you approach the museum, which is also the tourist information center, you will see that it looks like a train station.  Well, it is a replica train station built on the site of the original train station which was demolished.  There is also an old passenger car on the site.

Today, only the main railroad line passes through the town, but the town was once the site of a railroad yard.  The Ava Southern Railroad, a short line railroad, went south to the town of Ava.

You go inside the museum.  Of course, the museum is about the history of Mansfield Missouri, and the different displays are about the life in the town to include the lives of Carl Mays and Laura Ingalls Wilder.  During here time in Mansfield, Laura Ingalls Wilder made much use of the railroad and the train station as she use the railroad to brings many of her goods to the town.  As you look through the exhibits, you will see a photo of Laura Ingalls Wilder attending an event with the driving of the last spike of the Kansas City Ozark and Southern Railroad which later was known as the Ava Southern Railroad.

Mansfield Historical Society and Museum is located at 101 W. North Street in Mansfield, Missouri, one block south of U.S. Business Route 60.  It is open from 10:00am to 3:00pm Monday through Saturday.  (It is closed on Sunday and from 12:00pm to 1:00pm.)  Parking is on site.  Admission is free, but they do take donations.  The museum is on one floor in two different rooms that are wheelchair accessible.  You can get more information about the museum and read more into the historical society at https://mansfieldhistoricalmuseum.com/.

The state of Missouri is nicknamed the ‘Show Me State’.  Allow them to show you the small town of Mansfield.

The Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Home and Museum, Mansfield, Missouri

by jbcowgill, posted in Uncategorized

Who is Laura Ingalls Wilder?  She was an author who wrote many books, but she is most famous for the Little House on the Prairie which became a television series.  She was born in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and lived in a few states in the Midwest Region of the United States of America.  Her final home was in the town of Mansfield in the U.S. state of Missouri.  This is the same state that produced Samuel Clemens, commonly known by his penname of Mark Twain, who wrote the stories of Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer and their adventures on the Mississippi River.  Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote Little House on the Prairie while living in Mansfield, Missouri.  When you visit the Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Home and Museum, you can visit the museum that tells the life of Laura Ingalls Wilder and the books that she wrote.  You then have the Rocky Ridge Farmhouse and see her writing desk.  You then have the Rock House.  It was here where Laura wrote the Little House on the Prairie books.  As you visit the Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Home and Museum, you will get the complete story of America’s greatest authors.

Some of you are saying, “Wow!  She had to be one amazing woman.  She lived in so many places in the American Midwest.  Her two homes must be beautiful.  There is a very big problem.  First, this is not a railroad site.  Second, this is not a railroad museum.  Third, Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote no stories about railroads.  Therefore, you will not see me making a visit to this place.”

You do have a point.  This is not a railroad site.  It is not a railroad museum.  There is no railroad on the property nor was there any railroad here.  She never wrote any story about the railroad.  This brings us to a very important question: why should you visit the Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Home and Museum?

The Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Home and Museum is a museum that features two houses where Laura Ingalls spent the last years of her life that is located just outside of the town of Mansfield, Missouri.  She is buried with her husband at a gravesite in a cemetery that is located in the town, and the public can visit the gravesite.  While she was living in Mansfield, like many people, you buy things.  When you buy things, some people have their things brought to their homes.

Some of you are saying, “This is nice, but there is no railroad at her house nor has there ever been a railroad at her house.”

That is true.  However, there is a railroad in the town of Mansfield, and there was a train station.  The train station is no longer active, but the railroad line remains active today and is owned by the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad, simply known as BNSF.  The town also had a railroad yard, and it was served by a short line railroad known as the Ava Southern Railroad that went to the town of Ava.

What does this have to do with the Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Home and Museum?

Laura Ingalls Wilder made much use of the train station in Mansfield as she had many of her things ship to the town of Mansfield by train, and then it was brought to her house.  Laura Ingalls Wilder also attended a ceremony celebrating the completion of the Ava Southern Railroad.

Laura Ingalls Wilder never wrote a story about the railroad, but while she was living in Mansfield, Missouri, the railroad was a big part of her life.

The Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Home and Museum is located at 3060 Missouri Highway A in Mansfield, Missouri.  It is open from March 1 to November 15 from 9:00am to 5:00pm from Monday to Saturday and 12:00pm to 5:00pm on Sunday.  Parking is on site.  Please note that due to the age of the structures, the Rocky Ridge Farmhouse and the Rock House are not wheelchair accessible.  You can get more information and read more into the life of Laura Ingalls Wilder at https://lauraingallswilderhome.com/.

Come to the Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Home and Museum.  See where the Little House on the Prairie was written.  See the place where a famous author made her home, and home that made use of the railroad.