"Mankato" a Mankato Travel Page by Taistealai

Most of my trips to Minnesota have been of the visiting family type, but a few years ago I spent a day in Mankato. This town played a key role in 2 of my favorite series of books while I was growing up -- the Little House on the Prairie books by Laura Ingalls Wilder and the Betsy-Tacy books by Maud Hart Lovelace. However, in the Little House books, Mankato was just a nearby town. In the Betsy-Tacy books, nearly all of the stories are set in Mankato which was the hometown of the author. After years of reading and re-reading these books, I finally had the chance to make a Betsy-Tacy "pilgrimage". But even if you're not a children's lit fan, Mankato is a nice way to spend a day, especially in the summer. It's a quaint town with lots of old Victorian style homes and picturesque scenery. This photo is of the Mankato train station -- maybe not picturesque, but the most straightforward Mankato shot I could find.