Step Inside Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little-Known Iowa Home

I grew up with the TV show 'Little House on the Prairie'. I fondly remember watching the adventures of Ma and Pa Ingalls, and of course Laura, or 'Half Pint'. The show lasted nine seasons, and you can still see it today on the Peacock streaming service. My daughter Carly discovered the series several years ago, and when she found out that there was a Laura Ingalls Wilder festival happening in Iowa, she told me that we were going!

Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum in Burr Oak

Burr Oak, Iowa, is a tiny town known for one thing. Famed author Laura Ingalls Wilder and her family lived there for a short time and worked at the Masters Hotel. According to the museum website, the Ingalls family lived in Burr Oak from 1876 to 1877. Wilder never wrote about her time in Iowa in her books. As we found out from our tour guide, it was not a very happy time, as Burr Oak was a rough town that saw many travelers headed West. Our guide stated that up to 200 covered wagons moved through the town daily. The Ingalls family actually had to move out of the hotel after just 3 months, after gunshots were fired into the building!

Laura's Youngest Sister Was Born in Iowa

While Laura's books say that her youngest sister Grace was born in Minnesota, she was actually born in Burr Oak, Iowa, on May 23rd, 1877. The family didn't stay in Iowa long, as Pa Ingalls eventually moved his young family back to Minnesota.

The Laura Ingalls Wilder museum opened in 1976 in the refurbished Masters Hotel. My daughter Carly and I stopped by the day before the big festival for a tour.

After our tour of Burr Oak, we worked up an appetite, so we stopped in Decorah to try the 2026 winner of the Best Burger in Iowa at Dixie's Biergarten! I can't tell you how much they deserved to win...the burger was out of this world!

If you're a fan of the book series or the TV show, a trip to Burr Oak is worth the 2-hour drive from the Corridor.