Explore the real-world places that appear in Rascal by Sterling North. Each location on the map shows what happens there in the novel, the real history of the place, and what's there today. Featured locations include Sterling North Boyhood Home, Rock River, Edgerton Main Street Business District, Edgerton Public Library, Wisconsin Tobacco Fields and 6 more.
456 West Rollin Street, Edgerton — The North family house
Eleven-year-old Sterling lives here with his father after his mother's death and his brothers and sister have moved away. He builds Rascal a cozy cage in the house, then the raccoon takes over the kitchen and becomes a full family member. The home is the base for the summer of 1918, where Sterling reflects on the absence of his mother and his father's frequent travels.
The house was built in 1839 and became the family home of author Sterling North, who was born in Edgerton in 1906. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places and is a designated National Historic Landmark of children's literature.
The house is preserved as the Sterling North Boyhood Home & Rascal Museum and is open for tours by appointment. Visitors can see period rooms, memorabilia, and the setting of the Rascal story.
Visit: Sterling North Boyhood Home & Rascal Museum (museum)
Edgerton — Sterling's canoe and fishing waters
Sterling and Rascal spend long summer days on the river, fishing and exploring. Rascal washes his food in the water and learns to ride in the canoe. The river is the setting for Sterling's attempts to travel and play in the open country, away from the confines of town and school.
The Rock River drains south-central Wisconsin and northern Illinois, flowing into the Mississippi. In the early 20th century it was widely used for fishing, boating, and recreation by residents of small Wisconsin towns.
The river runs through Edgerton and is open for paddling, fishing, and riverside walks. Local parks provide access to the water.
Visit: Rock River Recreation Area (park)
Main Street — Downtown shops and stores
Sterling travels into town for errands and for visits with townspeople, who are amused or alarmed by his pet raccoon. He rides his bicycle and carries Rascal, who attracts attention and mischief in shops and along the sidewalks. The downtown contrasts the busy community with the quiet world of the woods.
Edgerton developed as a farming and tobacco-trading center after the railroad arrived in the mid-1800s. Its downtown retains many brick storefronts from that period.
The historic downtown includes small shops, restaurants, and civic buildings, and is listed as a historic district.
Visit: Edgerton Historic Downtown (landmark)
Albion Street — Town library
Sterling is a reader and an eager student of nature, and the town library reflects his curiosity about animals and the world beyond Brailsford Junction. Books shape his understanding of the raccoon and of the wider world, even as he tries to balance reading with chores and play.
The Edgerton library grew out of a community reading effort in the late 19th century, supported by local donors and civic groups.
The Edgerton Public Library continues to serve the community with books, programs, and local history resources.
Visit: Edgerton Public Library (library)
Rock County farmland — Surrounding countryside
The surrounding farmland represents the rural world Sterling knows, with fields and woods where he and Rascal roam. The countryside supplies the sights and sounds of the season, and the landscape brings out Sterling's love of the outdoors.
Rock County became known for tobacco farming in the late 19th century, and Edgerton was a major tobacco-packing center for decades.
Fields and farms still surround Edgerton, though tobacco has largely given way to other crops. The area is privately owned farmland.
Rollin Street property — Rascal's first home
Sterling builds a shelter for Rascal on the property after taking the baby raccoon from the woods. Rascal escapes and wreaks havoc, climbing trees and raiding the pantry. The outbuildings are the staging ground for Sterling's raccoon training and for the pair's growing bond.
Outbuildings on late-nineteenth-century Wisconsin homesteads commonly housed animals, tools, and carriages. The North property followed this pattern.
The yard is part of the boyhood home property and is viewable by visitors to the museum.
Visit: Sterling North Boyhood Home & Rascal Museum (museum)
Railroad tracks — Brailsford Junction's rail link
The railroad ties the small town to the wider world and to the war in Europe. Sterling's father and others travel by rail, and the trains mark the comings and goings that shape Sterling's solitary summer.
The Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul and other railroads served Edgerton, supporting its tobacco industry and connecting it to Chicago and Milwaukee.
Rail lines still pass near the city, but the historic depot is no longer an active passenger station.
Town school — Sterling's school days
School looms as the routine from which Sterling longs to escape. Rascal's antics, including the raccoon's presence in class and trips to and from school, make for memorable scenes and test the patience of teachers and neighbors.
Edgerton's public schools have served the community since the nineteenth century, with new buildings replacing older ones over time.
Modern school facilities serve the area. They are not open to the public as tourist sites.
Rock County woods — Where Sterling found Rascal
Sterling finds baby Rascal in a hollow tree after the mother raccoon has been killed. The woods and marshes are the setting for exploring with the grown raccoon, and ultimately the place where Sterling must decide whether to return Rascal to the wild.
Southern Wisconsin's glacial landscape produced a patchwork of marsh, woodland, and prairie, which the region's settlers gradually converted to farmland.
Remnants of woods and wetlands remain in the area, with some public lands available for hiking and wildlife viewing.
Local gathering place — Town festivities
Community gatherings and outings give Sterling opportunities to show off Rascal and to experience small-town life at the end of the war. The raccoon attracts curious crowds and creates comic trouble.
Small Wisconsin towns held fairs, picnics, and patriotic events, especially during the First World War years.
Edgerton continues to host community events and festivals, including celebrations tied to its heritage.
Edgerton — Tribute to the author and raccoon
The Rascal story, drawn from Sterling North's 1918 boyhood, remains the town's best-known literary legacy. The memorial honors the boy and his raccoon, whose summer of adventures became a beloved memoir.
Edgerton honored its native author after Rascal won wide acclaim following its 1963 publication and became a Newbery Honor book.
Visitors can find local commemorations of the author and his raccoon near the boyhood home and around town.
Visit: Sterling North Boyhood Home & Rascal Museum (monument)
More by Sterling North: All Sterling North books
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