Location
Deep Valley, Minnesota, is based on the author's actual hometown of Mankato, Minnesota, and many locations described correspond to actual locations in Mankato. Deep Valley is the setting for all the books, except for Betsy and the Great World, in which the title character travels across the Atlantic Ocean and to various countries in Europe, and Betsy's Wedding, which takes place in New York and Minneapolis. The first four books in the series (when Betsy is age 5-14), the Rays live in the little yellow cottage on Hill Street across the street from the Kellys' rambling house, with Tib moving to the chocolate-colored house two streets away at the end of the first book, Betsy-Tacy.
The fifth book, depicting Betsy's freshman year of high school, begins with her on a short trip to a nearby farm where she gets terribly homesick. When she comes home, there is a surprise- a new, bigger house nearer to the downtown. Although the rest of the family is thrilled, sentimental Betsy is sad to leave the cute, little cottage.
By the last book, Betsy's Wedding, all three girls, Betsy, Tacy, and Tib, have moved out of Deep Valley. Betsy lives in Minneapolis with her husband, Joe Willard. Her parents and younger sister Margaret also live in Minneapolis at 909 Hazel Street, along with Tacy and her husband Harry Kerr. Tib lives there most of the time, although does occasionally stay with her family at the chocolate-colored house. Tacy's father is said to have died prior to her marriage (mentioned in Betsy and the Great World); it is assumed that her mother lives in the rambling house on Hill Street.
Read more about this topic: Betsy-Tacy