‘Little House on the Prairie’: Why the Netflix Reboot Isn’t Set in Walnut Grove

Erin Maxwell July 2, 2026, 5:24 pm

Netflix's Little House on the Prairie — Netflix

What To Know

The Netflix reboot of Little House on the Prairie sets the Ingalls family’s story in Independence, Kansas, rather than the familiar Walnut Grove, Minnesota.
The new adaptation aims to introduce the classic frontier tale to a new generation.

Fans of Little House on the Prairie are eagerly anticipating the return of their favorite frontier family, the Ingalls, as Netflix reimagines the frontier drama, adapting Laura Ingalls Wilder‘s beloved frontier stories for a new generation while reintroducing the family to longtime fans and newcomers alike.

However, viewers who know the Ingalls family primarily from the classic television series may be puzzled by one major change: the show’s setting in Independence, Kansas.

Where is Walnut Grove?

Season 1 of the Netflix reboot follows the Ingalls family — Charles (Luke Bracey), Caroline (Crosby Fitzgerald), Mary (Skywalker Hughes), and Laura (Alice Halsey) — as they build their little house on the Kansas prairie near the town of Independence. For fans of the original television series, that may seem surprising, since Walnut Grove, Minnesota, is so closely associated with the Ingalls family.

What the Original Cast of 'Little House on the Prairie' Has Said About the Netflix Reboot

The reason is simple: Netflix is returning to the original source material, and in Wilder’s books, the family first built their little house in Independence, not Walnut Grove. While the beloved 1974 television series spent most of its run in Walnut Grove, the first season of the new adaptation draws from the third book of Wilder’s series Little House on the Prairie. The story takes place in southeastern Kansas, where Charles and Caroline Ingalls first move their family in search of a new beginning after leaving the “big woods.”

However, fans of the original series with a keen memory will recall that in the pilot movie, the Ingalls family traveled from Pepin, Wisconsin, to the open plains near Independence, Kansas, before settling in Walnut Grove. Eventually.

“It’s about people deciding who they want to be, and it’s about people looking for a better life,” she told Tudum. “It leans into the idea that it’s never too late to do that. You always have a chance to reinvent and to rediscover who you are, what means something to you, what kind of people you want to be, what kind of adventures you want to take, what kind of life you want to seek.”

Little House on the Prairie, Series Premiere, July 9, Netflix