Tuesday, April 28, 2020

Roadtrip your way through History: Caddie Woodlawn Edition


Do you want a fun way to learn about history? Take a road trip! About a 15-minute drive south of Menomonie, WI, along Highway 25, is the Caddie Woodlawn Historical Park. The park includes the original home of Caroline Augusta Woodhouse, for whom the Caddie Woodlawn book series is based on. The park was dedicated in 1970. Caroline Woodhouse’s home was moved in 1970 from the original site about 300 yards to the east. The park is operated by the Dunn County Historical Society (located in Wakanda Park in Menomonie, WI), and includes a covered picnic area and restrooms, and admission is free. I first visited the park in August of 2010, which is about the same time I visited the Laura Ingalls Wilder (who wrote the Little House on the Prairie series) site in Pepin, WI, for the first time. I read these books when I was younger and like learning about pioneering and Wisconsin history, and I realized I could explore these places I had read about, and they were just a short drive from Menomonie. I visited the Caddie Woodlawn Historical Park again a few weeks ago, and it was a farther drive to the park than I remembered. The place still looked the same, except there is a new yellow “Woodlawn House” sign by the front door of the house. The surrounding area by the park is very peaceful, and it is a good way to explore history close to home while social distancing during the COVID-19 Pandemic. After visiting the park, you could keep driving south towards Durand and enjoy Wisconsin’s beautiful scenic landscape.


Park sign next to HWY 25

Caddie Woodlawn Historical Park Marker, 1970
The original Woodhouse family home

Peaceful farmland scenery surrounding the park


Other side of the park, including the block of Dunnville Sandstone
Looking out towards HWY 25 from the historical marker



Caddie Woodlawn was published in 1935, and its sequel Magical Melons was published in 1939, during the same time frame the Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder was published. The author Carol Ryrie Brink wrote about her grandmother’s adventures growing up as a tomboy in 1860s Dunnville, Wisconsin, about a 20-minute drive south of Menomonie on HWY 25. Brink’s grandmother’s name was Caroline Augusta Woodhouse, which was changed to Caddie Woodlawn for the books. The UW-Stout Library houses a 1973 edition of Caddie Woodlawn in the Education Materials Center on the 2nd floor, Young Adult Fiction, call number: BRINK Caddie 1973.


1973 book cover



In the archives, we have area history books and documents related to Dunn County’s history as well as archival collections related to Caddie Woodlawn and the historical park site. Some collections are:  Manuscript 82, Dunn County Historical Society Records, 1950-1982; Stout Mss O, Downsville Cut Stone Company, 1928-1968 (a block of Dunnville Sandstone is located at the historical park); Stout Small Collection 52, a 1981 term paper by Martha Stratton about Caddie Woodlawn and creation of the Caddie Woodlawn Memorial Park by the Dunn County Historical Society; Stout Small Collection 40, a copy of a talk given by Carol Ryrie Brink, author of Caddie Woodlawn, ca. 1960; and Vertical File 18, Caddie Woodlawn: A Pioneer Girl on Wisconsin’s Frontier, compiled by the Dunn County Historical Society and edited by John M. Russell. There is also a Caddie Woodlawn Country Map prepared by John M. Russell available on the Wisconsin Historical Society website, and articles in the Dunn County News and Stoutonia student newspaper about the Caddie Woodlawn Historical Park dedication and site available online (links available below). When the archives reopens to the public, you could always set up an appointment with us to investigate all the treasures we have relating to Caddie Woodlawn.

Vertical File 18 book cover

Caddie Woodlawn Country map located in Vertical File 18 book



By: Julie Hatfield, Archives Assistant, UW-Stout Archives


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