How One Widow's 'Foolish' Stone Foundation Kept Her Cabin Standing 47 Years скачать в хорошем качестве

How One Widow's 'Foolish' Stone Foundation Kept Her Cabin Standing 47 Years

Dodge County, Nebraska — March 3, 1881. A county note reads: "Mrs. S. Mitchell's foundation rises 30 inches—unnecessary height for a log room of 16×18 feet." On the Plains, quick sill-on-soil cabins averaged approximately 9 years of service before rot or shift; higher stone courses were dismissed as wasted labor. Her build required 26 wagonloads of Platte limestone and four weeks of masonry. In May–June 1886, the Elkhorn basin flooded; water reached approximately 18 inches above grade along Maple Creek. Seven cabins failed. Her cabin stayed level to within half an inch, the subfloor remained dry, and no sill rot was recorded. In 1909, reassessment logged less than 0.75 inches cumulative settlement. When the county closed its homestead file in 1928, this was the only 1880s one-room log dwelling still serviceable in the district—47 years continuous use. The difference was not luck; it was foundation geometry, drainage, and capillary control, built against local advice.