The story of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz begins with Dorothy and Toto in Kansas, but where did the idea for one of the best-known tales in American literature take shape?

L. Frank Baum, author of the original book, wrote the story while he was living in Chicago. A New York native, Baum was a lifelong writer, having established two amateur journals by the time he was 17 and publishing his first book at 30 in 1886. From there, he experimented in theater and later worked as a newspaper editor.

After falling on hard times, Baum moved his family to Chicago in 1891 and continued writing while holding down a job as a reporter. In 1898, Baum was inspired to write a children’s book, Father Goose: His Book, which had groundbreaking success.

Before Father Goose was published, Baum had already begun writing his next children’s book – The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. He was living in Humboldt Park when the book was published in 1900, and it quickly became the best-selling children’s book in America.

Today, Baum’s Chicago legacy remains. A symbolic yellow brick road marks the site of his former home at Humboldt Boulevard and Wabansia Avenue. The Chicago Park District also honored him with Oz Park in the Lincoln Park neighborhood, where statues of the characters are scattered throughout the park.

More than a century later, Chicago’s influence on The Wonderful Wizard of Oz remains a point of pride, reminding us that even the most fantastical journeys often begin in very real places.