GRAND RAPIDS, Minn. — Judy Garland was already a star, and on the cusp of becoming an icon, when she returned to her hometown in 1938. Here in the seat of Itasca County, the 15-year-old wanted to meet the doctor who delivered her, reconnect with a childhood friend, and see the house where she lived for the first four years of her life.

“In one interview later,” said John Kelsch, “she said, ‘You think that house is so big. When you go back to see it, you realize that it wasn’t really that big.'”

It was big enough for Ethel and Francis Gumm to raise three daughters, who were already regionally famed performers when the family moved to California in 1926. Even as a small child, the budding star born under the name of Frances Gumm performed at theaters in Grand Rapids, Hibbing, Virginia and Bemidji. She also performed on the staircase landing in a house that’s now preserved as part of the…