The Riley Birthplace and Museum, one of two homes called the James Whitcomb Riley House on the National Register of Historic Places, is located at 250 West Main Street in Greenfield, Indiana, twenty miles (32 km) east of downtown Indianapolis.

The house was built by the author's father Reuben Riley, a local attorney in 1850, and Greenfield's first mayor.

Visitors such as a ragged man and an orphan girl, Mary Alice Smith (Little Orphant Annie), inspired James Whitcomb Riley to write the poems he would later tell in his adulthood.

[5][6] Before his death in 1916, Riley wrote over 1000 poems, including "Little Orphant Annie", "When the Frost is on the Punkin", and "The Bear Story".

Mitchell's former domicile is used as a museum, allowing for Riley's home to be kept as it would have looked like during his time of residence.