Aberdeen Fun Fact #2

Remember when I said "There's no place like home?" well I figured it was about time that explained why that was so appropriate!

Aberdeen Fun Fact #2....L. Frank Baum, author of "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" once lived in Aberdeen!

Lyman Frank Baum was an American author of children's books, best known of course for writing The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Although born in New York State, after marrying Maud Gage in 1882, L. Frank Baum and his wife moved to Aberdeen in July, 1888.

Baum opened a store, "Baum's Bazaar."  His habit of giving out wares on credit led to the eventual bankrupting of the store, so Baum tuned to editing a local newspaper, "The Aberdeen Saturday Pioneer," where he wrote a column, "Our Laundry."  Baum's description of Kansas in "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" is based on his experience in drought-ridden South Dakota.

While in South Dakota, Baum sang in a quartet that included a man who would become one of the first Populist Senators in the U.S., James Kyle.

Also during this time, Maud's mother, Matilda Joslyn Gage was living in the Baum household. Gage was one of the first and most outspoken suffragists, a Native American activist, an abolitionist (she grew up in a house that served the Underground Railroad), a freethinker and a prolific author.

Baum's legacy lives on in one of Aberdeen's many nicknames (The Land of Oz) as well as in Storybook Land, a theme park located in Wylie Park which features its newest addition, The Land of Oz, in honor of the time Baum spent in Aberdeen.  The ten-acre park features a farmstead area with Dorothy's house, children's petting zoo, Munchkin Land, Scarecrow's house, Tin Man's house, Wicked Witch Castle, and the Emerald City.

Hopefully someday soon I will visit Wylie Park and Storybook Land and provide you with some photos of this awesome Aberdeen landmark.  So far everything is going well here in SD and at work, unfortunately readjusting to working 40+ hours a week has me pretty exhausted and so I don't find myself doing too much once I'm off work each week!  This weekend will be the first weekend I'm actually staying in Aberdeen though so hopefully I will have some adventures to share!!