I recently returned from my first Little House trip of the year, and felt I just had to share about the wonderful experience I had at one of the homesites. You often hear lovely stories about visits to Mansfield, to De Smet, to Walnut Grove… but I had a delightful time at a site that often seems to be overlooked: Spring Valley, Minnesota.
Spring Valley was the home of Laura, Almanzo, and little Rose during 1890-91, which makes it significant in and of itself. But there’s a lot more to Spring Valley than that.
Farmer Boy, set near Burke, New York, ends with young Almanzo Wilder taking his first step away from boyhood and toward manhood. When next we see Almanzo in the series, he is a grown man, a homesteader in Dakota Territory. Where did the transition from boy to man take place? Where did Almanzo learn the skills he would need to manage his own farm, to train his own animals, to be a man fit for the heroine of our series?
In Spring Valley, Minnesota.
The Wilder family moved to Minnesota around 1870-71. Although the older children stayed to maintain the farm in New York until about 1875, Almanzo went with his parents to Spring Valley and therefore spent his adolescent years on the Minnesota farm before setting out on his own in 1878.
Mother and Father Wilder remained on their Spring Valley farm until shortly before their deaths, and Royal left De Smet for Spring Valley and lived out his life there. All three of the Wilder girls, Laura, Eliza Jane, and Alice, spent varying amounts of time living in Spring Valley, and met and married their husbands there. Decades of Wilder history took place in Spring Valley. For that alone, I am sure you must agree that this makes it worth a stop on any Wilder pilgrimage.
But what does Spring Valley have to offer visitors? Therein lies the real treasure.
The Spring Valley site is unique among Wilder homes in that it was not initially created to be a Wilder site. The Spring Valley Historical Society was formed to preserve local history, and it continues to fulfill this purpose today. As the Wilder family is part of that local history, extensive research has been conducted by local volunteers to provide Wilder admirers with accurate information about the Wilders’ life in Spring Valley.
Spring Valley Methodist Church Museum
The Historical Society is located in the original church building that the Wilder family attended, including Laura and Almanzo. Visitors will receive an informative tour of Spring Valley history through its artifacts housed on the lower level of the church; the exhibit even includes a general store such as Royal Wilder owned in Spring Valley. The upstairs preserves church history and contains displays on Wilder history. The research gathered has been conveniently put together in a couple of different booklets available for purchase at the gift shop.
But that’s not all. The Historical Society also owns a historic home across the street from the church, which is furnished entirely in period items owned by Spring Valley families. You can almost imagine Mother Wilder bustling around the kitchen or picture Eliza Jane and Alice sitting primly in the fine parlor with their male suitors.
The vast amount of historic items the Society has preserved is amazing in and of itself, but what I find even more incredible is that they’ve purchased none of it. All of the items in the church and the home — including the home itself — were donated by the people of Spring Valley. Now that’s a community that values their history!
The Wilder home in Spring Valley no longer exists, but the Historical Society will point interested visitors to the location of their farm. Currently an original Wilder barn sits on the property (viewable from the street only, please, as this is privately owned property), but unfortunately, the barn will soon be torn down and this valuable piece of Wilder history will be lost to us. (The Society has made every attempt to save the barn, but it has not been possible.)
The Wilder Barn
You can visit the grave of Royal Wilder and two of his infant children in the local cemetery, as well as several other family members (including Mother Wilder’s brother George Day and sister Delia Day Stockman; Almanzo’s sister Laura’s husband, Harrison Lomanzo Howard; Almanzo’s cousin Chet Lamson and his family; and family of Royal’s wife Electa Averill Hutchinson).
So if you have a Little House trip planned and it doesn’t include a stop at Spring Valley, you will surely want to change your plans to work in a visit at this wonderful site which values its history. Best of all is its proximity to other Wilder sites: Spring Valley is only an hour from Burr Oak, Iowa; two hours from Pepin, Wisconsin; or three hours from Walnut Grove, Minnesota. Even if you can’t go this year, visit their website and plan a stop in the future. Or make a donation — the church is currently in need of some expensive roof repair and your assistance would be appreciated.
The kind volunteers at the Historical Society are passionate about preserving the past, and for that we highly commend them.