Little ol' Sod Shanty on the Plain

[Delmonico]

Most folks when they think of sod houses think of a little bitty rough house of about 12X14 feet with one room.  Well most of them were similar although the quality of the construction di vary with the skill of the user. 

Well while wanderin' round my favorite picture collection I run accross this sod house picture.  It is often considered the ultimate in a sod house.  I wouln't mind livin' in it myself.  Click on this link.


http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/displayPhoto.pl?path=/award/nbhips/lca/107&topImages=10735r.jpg&topLinks=10735v.jpg&displayProfile=0&title=Isadore%20Haumont%20two-story%20sod%20house%20on%20French%20Table%20north%20of%20Broken%20Bow,%20Custer%20County,%20Nebraska&m856s=$dnbhips$f10735&dir=ammem&itemLink=D?psbib:21:./temp/~ammem_0HiK:

Not the image most have of one.

[Capt. Hamp Cox]

Interesting.  Suppose there was any kind of superstructure, or did the interior and exterior sod walls bear the entire load?

[Delmonico]

This is my understandin' in it:  The round pillars on the corers support the roof, the exterior walls and the interior walls supported the 2nd floor.  The lean-to part was on it's own so to speak.

The folks that built it were from Belguim.  This stood and was lived in till the 1920' or 30's and the story I've been told is that the NSHS tried to preserve the stucture, but the people that owned it would not let them because they didn't want folks to know they had lived in a sodhouse.

[Prof. Bullspit]

That is an impressive soddy! Thanks for sharing the picture!

[Delmonico]

Well here's how the poor folk in Newbrasskey lived in the 1880's.



http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/displayPhoto.pl?path=/award/nbhips/lca/106&topImages=10600r.jpg&topLinks=10600v.jpg&displayProfile=0&title=Sylvester%20Rawding%20family%20sod%20house,%20north%20of%20Sargent,%20Custer%20County,%20Nebraska.&m856s=$dnbhips$f10600&dir=ammem&itemLink=D?psbib:25:./temp/~ammem_mlVH:

But at least they got watermelon and muskmelon.

[Delmonico]

If ya want a better look scroll under the picture and click on lager referance image.

[Russ T Chambers]

If ya want a better look scroll under the picture and click on lager referance image.

One would wonder what happens if the cow decides to wander off the hill and onto the roof.  Looks like one inch timber and a few inches of sod.  Maybe as much as two inch and three or four of sod.  Still I can imagine waking up in the middle of the night with four legs and hooves haning over my bed.  She does look like she's tethered though.

[Delmonico]

She is tethered, the enhanced that ya can click on underneath is 3300 pixels per inch.  I have seen this one at 250,000 pixels per inch.  We was peeking in the windows and seein' all kinds of things.  There is a table that is nicely set that can be seen through the door.

But they could not put the pictures up at that resaloution, cause most of our pooters could not handle it.  But those are really cool.

[Delmonico]

Of course if ya dig a hole it the ground ya don't have ta use as much sod as a above ground house, these were called dugouts and could often be built in 2-3 days by hand.  The one room above ground ones could be build in a week ta 10 days by 2-3 people. 

http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/displayPhoto.pl?path=/award/nbhips/lca/103&topImages=10351r.jpg&topLinks=10351v.jpg&displayProfile=0&title=Rev.%20William%20McCaslin%20house,%20known%20as%20the%20%22Preacher%20Home,%22%20%20in%20Rose%20Valley%20near%20Clear%20Creek,%20Custer%20County,%20Nebraska.&m856s=$dnbhips$f10351&dir=ammem&itemLink=D?psbib:57:./temp/~ammem_zDYR:

These were the real "low rent" places on the prairie.

[Delmonico]

Course if ya could afford some lumber one could even make a better quality dugout.

http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/displayPhoto.pl?path=/award/nbhips/lca/132&topImages=13233r.jpg&topLinks=13233v.jpg&displayProfile=0&title=Robbins%20dugout,%20West%20Union,%20T.P.%20with%20frame%20front,%20Custer%20County,%20Nebraska.&m856s=$dnbhips$f13233&dir=ammem&itemLink=D?psbib:4:./temp/~ammem_3Ten:

Notice how much this resembles the "Modern" berm houses that are startin' to get popular.

[Delmonico]

Many of the first folks to settle in the Nebraska Sandhills, claimed land that had a little pocket of trees on a bend in a river or on an Island in the river.  This let the trees be protected from the prairie fires that often swept the region, this is one of the reasons this region had few trees. 

Folks who had trees often built there house out of logs, just like they did back east.  Latter when they wanted to add on to the house the trees were all used already and the addition would be built out of sod, like this house.

http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/displayPhoto.pl?path=/award/nbhips/lca/101&topImages=10191r.jpg&topLinks=10191v.jpg&displayProfile=0&title=The%20log%20and%20sod%20house%20of%20Frank%20Cozad,%202%20miles%20east%20of%20New%20Helena,%20Nebraska&m856s=$dnbhips$f10191&dir=ammem&itemLink=D?psbib:19:./temp/~ammem_HPjT:

[Delmonico]

By the middle of the 1880's and on into the 1890's railroads were penetrating the region with both mail lines and branch lines.  This allowed lumber to be brought in from other regions, the bulk of it was shipped in from Minnesota. 

The lower cost of the trasportation allowed farmers and ranchers who were doiing fairly well and had "proved up" to get a morgage on the land and buy the lumber to build a new house.  Also some of these houses were kits that had everything you need shipped out as a package deal.  Here's one from 1886 that had replaced the older sodhouse.  Note the young trees and the windmill to pump water.  By the location of the windmill this house had running water in the kitchen.

http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/displayPhoto.pl?path=/award/nbhips/lca/130&topImages=13073r.jpg&topLinks=13073v.jpg&displayProfile=0&title=New%20house%20on%20the%20old%20William%20Marsh%20homestead%20near%20the%20Genet%20Post%20Office,%20Custer%20County,%20Nebraska&m856s=$dnbhips$f13073&dir=ammem&itemLink=D?psbib:41:./temp/~ammem_fDsS:

[Delmonico]

With these nicer homes with runnin' water came other nice things like real furniture instead of old boxes.  Many of the houses even had carpets in some of the rooms. 

Course it took some gettin' used to fer the menfolks ta remember ta wipe their feet and such, this would cause many problems with the wife.  So slightly afer the turn of the century (1907 date) some interprisin' fellows down Kearney way got them a new-fangled device ta clean carpets.  This made life easier on the prairie I would bet. 

Come in from doin' chores and ferget ta wipe yer feet, course the lady of the house would not be happy with ya.  So what do ya do?  well roll up the carpets, put them in the wagon and take them inta Kearney and have these fellows clean them for a nominal fee.  As luck would have it, there are no notes as to how much it cost to have the carpets cleaned but to have peace in the home, the price could not be as bad as the alterative.

Besides that I'd be willin' to pay good money ta see this thing work.

http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/displayPhoto.pl?path=/award/nbhips/lca/130&topImages=13006r.jpg&topLinks=13006v.jpg&displayProfile=0&title=Carpet%20cleaner%20run%20by%20a%20gasoline%20engine%20in%20Kearney,%20Nebraska&m856s=$dnbhips$f13006&dir=ammem&itemLink=r?ammem/psbib:@FIELD(DOCID+@BAND(@lit(p13006)))

[Silver Creek Slim]

That is one fancy soddy. 

Slim

[Four-Eyed Buck]

Nice pictures, Del. that two story soddy was quite an accomplishment. that carpet cleaner is huge, wonder how it worked. sure isn't a Hoover! Think the first Hooover was made in about 1908-10. wouldn't have worked oput there though, no 'lectricity yet.........Buck

[Delmonico]

My studyin' the carpet cleaner a bit makes me guess that the carpets are just hung in that ferris wheel and it is spun around, beatin' them.   Make me think now the Ferris wheel came out about the same time.  Wonder if their was a connection.  Did ya scroll under the pictures and click on the larger enhanced image?