If you like looking at objects from the pioneers time period and you love the Laura Ingalls books you will enjoy this site.The exhibit does not have many of Laura's actual objects but it does have many objects that were from that time period and were described in the books. There is a reconstruction of a dugout and a the house that is similar to the house that pa built. The visual representation was really helpful.There are also activities for children like an arts and craft station, a school house, and a building filled with dress up clothing and hands on experiences, like pretending to work in a pioneer shop or post office. Don't forget to travel down the road to the actual site of the homestead!
my wife has wanted to see this for years, a little disappointed as it is located right in town, most items/buildings are not from the show. If you have kids they might like to see it if they have watched the show. Items located inside the buildings are old era items, neat to see, 8 buildings to walk thru, you can take photos, some people from the show go once a year to talk about the show (end of July I think). Small gift shop with some older items to purchase.
Walnut Grove was the third Laura Ingalls Wilder homesite my 8-year-old daughter and I visited while on a LIW homesite tour in July. We were in town Friday and Saturday nights, the first weekend of this year’s pageant. More than any of the homesite towns I’ve visited, the Walnut Grove community seems to embrace their place in Laura history, and enjoy and appreciate Laura fans. The museum is wonderful! Saturday morning, friendly museum workers greeted us in the gift store, where we bought museum tickets. The tour is self-guided. They give you a pamphlet that tells you about each of the several buildings. Items in all of the buildings were very well marked with signs, but read the pamphlet to be sure not to miss seeing anything. The first building features information about the Little House books, and a few actual items that Laura owned when she was an adult. In the same building, there is a large room devoted to the TV show. Since the TV show was set in Walnut Grove, several of the actors from the show have visited there through the years, and they have photos from those visits. Pieces of show memorabilia are in one room, plus several log cabin doll houses. The actual mantel from the TV show is there as well. So cool! Other buildings show items from Laura’s era. There are kids activities, a replica dugout, a schoolhouse, a house that is similar in size to Laura’s “Wonderful House,” there’s an old-timey grocery store that my daughter loved playing in, plus an old-time post office, a jail. In the center of the buildings is a beautiful garden. The museum gift shop is spectacular. You’ll find everything Laura-related you could want, and some items you likely hadn't thought of (a Laura bobblehead comes to mind). The pageant, which takes place in the evenings three weekends in July, was excellent. On Friday night we had advance-purchase front row yellow section tickets. My daughter liked the pageant so much that we went to see it on Saturday night also. The second night we purchased general admission tickets and watched while sitting on our blanket on the side of the hill. I actually liked seeing it better from far away, where we could see the entire stage. We also enjoyed the festival Saturday, and my daughter loved competing in the Laura look-a-like contest. Both the festival and the contest take place for three Saturdays every July. In addition to the museum, be sure to visit the actual Ingalls homesite just north of town. Overall, Walnut Grove was our favorite of the five homesites we’ve visited. We look forward to visiting again.
Neat place to visit for LIW fans. Most of the stuff you could see at any county historical society museum but there was a nice collection of stuff from the show.
We visited during the cast reunion time, so there were LOTS of people there. This is a very nice museum, with a room dedicated to the TV series Little House on the Prairie. Wonderful gift shop, with lots of variety of books, etc.
We came for the Reunion Weekend and really enjoyed our trip and the museum. Lots of interesting things to look at, especially for a small town exhibit. Definitely worth a stop!
We took our grandchildren ages 8 and 11 to Walnut Grove to visit the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum and also attend the Fragments of A Dream Pageant, put on by the community for three weekends in July every year. This is a small town and they provide meals for pageant attenders by old fashioned community dinners every night of the pageant. The museum gave them a taste of pioneer life including a reproduction of a sod house, little school house, two room prairie house and (one the kiddos enjoyed) the old jail cells. There are other buildings on the property, but those were the best ones. We also "splurged" for the $4 bus tour of the actual Wilder sites. It was rather low key, but included a chance to wade in Plum Creek just near the site of the actual dugout that the Ingalls family lived in when they came to Walnut Grove. If you are looking for small town charm, and leave your "city" expectations at home, taking this trip is worthwhile. The pageant was worth the drive, but I would recommend the whole experience.
If you're an LHOP fan, of course this is a must-see. The museum is spread out over several buildings, with a lot of historical-museum things to see as well as quite a few nice LIW artifacts (her quilt!) and memorabilia from the show. Don't miss the Dugout on Plum Creek a few miles up the road. Very cool.Accessibility: I think most of the buildings has ramps, although several places were very narrow. We ended up leaving my son's walker outside a few places to make it easier.PS - there's basically nowhere in western MN to buy fresh vegetables, but there's a small asian market in Walnut Grove, of all places, that had the freshest, most delicious greens we had seen in weeks while driving across the country. Check it out!!
You probably need to be a Laura fan to really appreciate the museum. Very charming old style museum with small written notes. Fantastic museum shop. Walnut Grove is not that interesting some of the surrounding towns are nicer. Recommend to see The Sod House nearby as well.
Sure - it's sort of in the middle of nowhere.Sure - the town doesn't have a grocery store or a standard hotel.But, ya'll, it has so much more to offer than groceries and lodging!If you love Laura Ingalls Wilder, you will love this town.The Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum is great for kids - a wonderful small re-created town and a great "Pioneer Experience" room where kids can dress like Laura and hang laundry on the line like Laura and attempt to read Braille like her sister Mary did.The town hosts a charming outdoor pageant six nights on July weekends. You won't want to miss the outdoor drama.Nearby there is Plum Creek of the same claim to fame and the town also hosts annual Laura days with Laura crafts and a darling Laura Look Alike contest.Grab your prairie dress and your bonnet and let your kids watch classic literature and true history come to life right before their eyes.