Born in Mankato on April 25, 1892, Maud Palmer Hart lived in this home at 333 Center Street until 1906. In 1897 Frances "Bick" Kenney moved into the house across the street at 332 Center Street, and the two girls became lifelong best friends. They grew up surrounded by beautiful green hillsides, and from atop the hill behind her house, Maud could look down on Mankato and see Front Street, Sibley Park, and, far away in the valley, the "silver ribbon" of the Minnesota River. From the time she could hold a pencil, Maud was writing diaries, poems, plays, and stories. She graduated from Mankato High School in 1910 and attended the University of Minnesota. She was the author of many published short stories, 6 adult novels, and 18 children's books. With the publication of Betsy-Tacy in 1940, she began the successful series known as the Betsy-Tacy books, which were based on the lives of Maud, Betsy, and her friend Bick, Tacy. The stories of her childhood in Mankato, the fictionalized Deep Valley, small-town life, family traditions, and enduring friendships continue to capture the hearts of her fans. Maud married author and journalist Delos W. Lovelace in 1917, and they had one daughter, Merian. Maud died March 11, 1980, in California, and as she requested, she was returned to her beloved Mankato and is buried in Glenwood Cemetery.