NEBRASKAland Magazine is dedicated to outstanding photography and informative writing with an engaging mix of articles and photos highlighting Nebraska’s outdoor activities, parklands, wildlife, history and people.
Issue link: http://mag.outdoornebraska.gov/i/644631
hat do you do when local students need a high school but there's not enough money to build one? During the Great Depression, some residents of Brown County did what early settlers had done. They got together and put up a sod house. The story is found in a 1935 report of the Nebraska Emergency Relief Administration (NERA), a copy of which is at the Nebraska State Historical Society. About 20 miles southwest of Ainsworth, three rural school districts decided to build a consolidated school, with sod as the basic construction material. Earlier generations, making do without timber, had learned that sod was a good insulator against heat and cold. And if you didn't mind a lot of hard, heavy work, its cost was… well, dirt cheap. There was still some expense involved, but NERA provided funding, and work began on July 20, 1934. Sod was cut from old lake beds in the area and a foreman was hired from among the local unemployed workers on relief. A sod roof supported by pole rafters topped a two-room structure, consisting of a classroom and living quarters for the teacher. It was completed on Sept. 10. Several outbuildings, including two toilets and a barn for the students' horses, were also built of sod. More than 50 people attended the school's dedication, including the state superintendent of public instruction. The school opened with 11 students. Ninth, 10th, and 11th grades of study were offered. There was nothing fancy about Lakeland High School. The rooms were heated by "prairie coal" (cow chips) picked up by teachers, students and parents. And the barn for students' horses was an important feature, because some students rode horseback up to 10 miles. Others stayed with nearby families and helped with chores for their room and board. Altogether, 33 students attended Lakeland, with 11 receiving diplomas. Eventually the building began to deteriorate, and the school closed in 1941. Today a historical marker stands along Highway 20, seven- and-a-half miles west of Ainsworth. Look for it the next time you're out that way, and think of those kids riding their horses to their sod high school. ■ Visit the Nebraska State Historical Society's website at Nebraskahistory.org. A Brief History Brown County's Sod High School From the Nebraska State Historical Society W Lakeland High School, believed to be the only sod high school in the nation, was built in Brown County, Nebraska, in 1934. NSHS, RG4290-1505 NSHS, RG3183-4-4 The students of Lakeland High. The building stood straighter than the photographer did. 12 NEBRASKAland • MARCH 2016