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The fortunate ones would benefit from the invention of the special plow designed for this purpose called the grasshopper plow. Most of the records from that period describe the typical sod house as being a single room approximately 16 feet wide by 20 feet long and eight feet high. Every sod house was built following seven basic steps, as you will see in the following lines.
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There are only a few written accounts describing the process of building a soddy. The building site on the prairie was first cleared and leveled with a sharp spade prior to building up the walls. While early settlers used a special plow or sod cutter pulled by oxen to slice strips of sod from the prairie, Edinburg’s people used a skid-steer loader to get that job done. Not only was a back-breaking chore made easier, but the tractor produced nicely uniform sod pieces. The archaeological evidence provided by sod houses has shed light on the movement and settlement patterns of the early inhabitants of North America.
Hobbit-Style Houses God's World News - God's World News
Hobbit-Style Houses God's World News.
Posted: Fri, 01 Sep 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]
Smithsonian National Museum of American History: Kenneth E. Behring Center
One family put a tremendous amount of effort into their two-story soddy north of Broken Bow. Isadore Haumont built his house 1884 or ’85, at the same time that others were building lean-tos. As far as we know it was the only two-story sod house built in Nebraska. There were several story-and-a-half soddies, but no other two-story. It stood until 1967, proof of Isadore’s skill and determination. Many people were surprised by the coziness of dugouts and sod houses.
Are sod houses warm?
Archaeological excavations in the Atlantic provinces have revealed the existence of late 16th-century Inuit settlements in southern Labrador. The site at L’Anse aux Meadows is generally accepted to be proof that Europeans had landed in North America about the year 1000. The Siglit Inuvialuit, for example, built structures with driftwood, using thick layers of sod cut from tundra grass for insulation. Called igluryuaq, these buildings often had tunnel entrances and a central gathering space where inhabitants could share heat. They were considered cold season dwellings, along with napaqtaq and kadjigi (also built with driftwood and sod) and iglu (built with snow). Without trees or rocks to build houses with, settlers used sod, a tough combination of dirt and the roots of grass.
Many of the roofs were covered with sod cut somewhat thinner than that used in the side walls. Tar paper in between the sheathing and the sod helped cut down the number of leaks. Originally, this was a difficult job done with a spade, one brick at a time. But in the mid-1880s, a new kind of plow was invented that improved the process dramatically. Called a "breaking" or "grasshopper" plow, these plows cut the sod into strips 12-inches wide and 4-inches thick.
Objects in History
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Though some loved their sod homes, others were not as thrilled. Even the most ardent of fans found it a little hard to deal with a few things about sod home living. Most had endured long and grueling trips to get to these new lands, and many had staked all of the money they had to do so. Many people lost family members along the way, and some were starting out with nothing but their dedication to their dream and sheer determination. Their salvation came to them in the form of the very ground they walked on when they first arrived. Connect with Deborah on DeborahHufford.com, Facebook, and Instagram.
Once the land was selected, the homesteader went to the Land Office to make sure that the property was not already taken and to file a claim. With multiple sod farm locations to serve you, we are close to your next job and can provide the freshest sod possible. We continually strive to utilize technology to deliver higher quality turf. Our special harvesting equipment has a state of the art cutting head to maximize sod quality and automatic stacking which results in neat and stable pallets at your delivery site. Our sales and management team have a combined 260 years of experience in the sod industry or an average of 20 years each! This meant they would have to cut the sod from the ground around the house.
Building a House
Lacking building materials such as lumber and stone they had to make do with what they had. Since there weren’t trees that would help them build a log cabin, they had to rely on what was available. The most available material for making a home was the ground they walked on. From the 1870s on, both good and bad sod houses were constructed. The quality of the structure depended on the skill of the people constructing it and the time, money and effort put into it.
If you were building a sod house for the first time, chances were you wouldn’t get the roof right from the first try. Their know-how and life experience was the decisive factor for building a sturdy roof. If there were those who brought a stove with them, a hole was cut for a chimney. Without such a solid base, there was the risk of the walls settling inward and the entire structure would collapse. Every third row, they had to lay the sod bricks crosswise to tie the inner and outer rows together. The much-needed barn was usually built first; a house would come later.
Traditional acres were long and narrow due to the difficulty in turning the plow. Door and window frames were inserted and sod was arranged around them. Sometimes homes with sod ceilings dripped water, dirt or bugs, so settlers hung sheets to catch any debris from falling into the room, reported Earth Homes Now. Another way to protect from the elements and animal life was to line the roof with tarpaper.
In the late 1930s she told researchers from the Federal Writers Project about her life and some of the songs that were written about the sod house frontier. Caring for your sod is vital to protect your sod lawn throughout the year. You can find everything you need about sod care in one easy location. Check out the SodLawn sod care knowledge base for optimal care during any season of the year. Give us a call, and we will guide you through the process.
The North American plains were a vast mass of land that went on for miles on gently rolling terrain. Even the grass that fed the buffalo and other forms of wildlife often grew three to five feet high. There wasn’t anything that could protect you from the bitter cold wind that blows down from Canada. The walls are two sod blocks thick, staggered as bricks would be. Each piece of cut sod is two feet long, one foot wide and four inches thick.
Adding raised wooden floors was usually one of the first improvements that homesteaders made to their sod houses. Because of the thickness of the walls and in insulating ability of the material, sod houses did an excellent job of keeping the heat of a stove in the house during winter. "The sod house laughs at hard times and keeps alive old traditions."
Besides showing the dimensions of the sod house for when they started laying the walls, it would also reduce the insects and small animals that came into the sod house. Having a bare floor was also a precaution or safety measure. It would help reduce the chances of a fire inside the sod house. In 1862, America was in full expansion and Congress passed the Homestead Act. It was a helping hand for the settlers who were encouraged to conquer the Western frontier.
This plowed a twelve-inch wide strip of sod four inches thick. It took one half-acre of sod to build the two-room sod house, a total of ninety-six tons of sod. It has been estimated that in the United States and Canada there were some one million sod buildings in use from 1903–13. You can imagine that living in a one-room building wasn’t easy and privacy was a rare commodity.
