Last-surviving sod home older than dirt

By Christian Price, News9.com INsite Team

ALINE, Okla. -- The last-remaining sod house, which was built by a homesteader in the Oklahoma Land Run, still stands in Aline Okla.

It was built in 1894 by Marshal McCully," said Cory Smith, sod house museum manager, "He kept it until he passed away in 1963.

Oklahoma's last sod home is a piece of architecture built out of necessity, he said.

"They would cut long strips with a sod plow out of the ground," Smith said. "And cut it in about 18' inch blocks and stack it like bricks. It was just the regularly available material at the time. There were no trees, or very few trees, anyway, so that's what they had to build their home's with."

The earthern structure stands exactly where it was built.

"Everything was built around the sod house to preserve it," Smith said. "That process began in about 1963."

McCully had special plans for his home when he built it, he said.

"He obviously knew he was going to stay in it a lot longer than the typical person because he built it a little bit bigger," Smith said. "He had the windows, which is not typical of a sod house."

Travelers from around the world visit the sod house, Smith said. "Recently, we had some from Brazil and Canada."

"It's something that you really can't imagine what it is," Smith said. "You can't visualize how they lived until you actually see something like this."