Even today, some people visit Walnut Grove because of the television show and have never read the "Little House" books by Laura Ingalls Wilder, or perhaps don't even know she was a real person.

Many continued west but some decided to stay. A 10 x 12 dirt dugout is a replica of Laura Ingalls' first home in Walnut Grove. It's one of 10 buildings at the museum named after her.

Gao Vang, 14, finishes her shift at the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum in Walnut Grove, Minn., on Wednesday. (Renée Jones Schneider/The Minnesota Star Tribune) Comment Gift Share Listen ...

Laura Ingalls Wilder put the city of Walnut Grove on the map with her “Little House on the Prairie” book series. But the TV show of the same name changed the town of 800 people forever, says ...