Almanzo Homestead

Profile manager: Chris Whitten [send private message]

Rocky Ridge Farm is the homestead of the Wilder family, established by Laura Ingalls Wilder and Almanzo Wilder and made famous by the Little House on the Prairie Books.

Laura, Almanzo and Rose Wilder moved to Mansfield, Missouri -- the land of the big red apple -- in 1894. They put a down payment on forty acres of undeveloped land.

The land was thickly wooded and stone covered. Laura named it Rocky Ridge Farm.

The family built a log cabin and survived the first years with their only income being from wagon loads of firewood that were the result of clearing the land.

In the late 1890s the Wilders moved into town and rented a small house. Almanzo worked as an oil salesman and did deliveries. Laura took in boarders and served meals to local railroad workers. They spent any extra time they had improving the farm.

Almanzo's parents came to visit and gave Laura and Almanzo the deed to the house they had rented as a gift. This turned out to be the financial step they needed and they eventually sold the house and moved to the farm.

The family later built a square room at the location where the home is now. Over time, Almanzo expanded the house until it grew to 10 rooms.

The farm was successful due to diversification. The Wilders had learned through hard times not to count on one crop. The Wilders had poultry, horses, goats, hogs, cows, sheep, apple trees, vegetables. The farm grew to 200 acres.

Laura died in her sleep on February 10, 1957, just three days after her 90th birthday. Her daughter Rose closed the house just as it was. The home is now a museum. A calendar dated February 1957 still hangs on the wall and the birthday cards Laura had received remain on the kitchen table.

Links

• Rocky Ridge Farm - Wilder Historic Home and Museum
• One family's tour of Mansfield, Missouri