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.
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| Park sign next to HWY 25 |
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| Caddie Woodlawn Historical Park Marker, 1970 |
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| The original Woodhouse family home |
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| Peaceful farmland scenery surrounding the park |
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| Other side of the park, including the block of Dunnville Sandstone |
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| Vertical File 18 book cover |
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| Caddie Woodlawn Country map located in Vertical File 18 book |
By: Julie
Hatfield, Archives Assistant, UW-Stout Archives
Sources:
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