Sliding glass windows were put in the new walls of the Woodward Soddy, allowing visitors to view the original sod walls of the home.

By ELLEN MORTENSEN
Chief Assistant Editor    

    CALLAWAY  -- If walls could talk, these would undoubtedly have many interesting stories to tell. After all, they have been standing for more than 100 years.
    Talk to very many old-timers in the Custer County area, and you will likely hear many stories of life in old sod houses. But very few of the “soddies” remain, and most that are still standing are in extremely poor condition. They represent a piece of American history that, like many, are disappearing with time.
    For one local family, however, the fight to preserve that history has taken on a life of its own. Just a couple of miles northeast of Callaway lies the old Woodward soddy, which through painstaking love and dedication, has recently been restored. Along with the old house, the barn on the farm has also endured a major facelift.
       

The current owner of the property, and the man responsible for the restoration project, is Lawrence “Woody” Woodward of Dupre, S.D. Woody’s great uncle and aunt, Jess and Rosetta Woodward, purchased the farm May 6, 1919.

The Callaway Courier reports that the land patent on the property was filed in 1891 by an Alexander Y. Smith, and the property went through several hands between that time and 1919, when it was acquired by Woodwards. In 1938, Merril and Esther Woodward bought the property from Jess and Rosetta. In later years, Cecil Woodward, son of Merril and Esther, purchased the farm.
    In August 2003, Woody bought the old farmstead from his cousin, Cecil. Woody first visited the soddy back in the early 1990s, and says he fell in love with the property. His father was also born in a sod house east of this property. Woody explains that at the time there were three families of Woodwards living in that area.
    “My Dad always said there were too many Woodwards there, so he packed up his bunch and moved to South Dakota,” Woody laughs.
    Woody almost did not end up with the farmstead, as it was sold to someone else but that deal fell through at the last minute. When Cecil called and told him the place was once again available, Woody jumped at the opportunity.
    The condition of the house was very poor when Woody acquired it. The house had been vacant since the mid 1980s, and the years and weather had taken their toll. But Woody saw potential, and set about making the home inhabitable once again.
    He says his motivation was partly the historical value of the property, and partly to have someplace to stay when coming to the area to visit family. He began making trips back to Nebraska on weekends and holidays, clearing out brush and cleaning up the property in preparation for the rebuilding.
    Charlie Jorgenson, a building contractor from the Callaway area, was brought on board to help with the project. Woody’s nephew, Jay Till of South Dakota, also took a keen interest and made many trips to Callaway doing most of the outside renovations on the house while Jorgenson worked on the inside.
    The men worked diligently to not only renovate the house, but maintain as much of its originality as possible. After building a new foundation to stabilize the house, Till began searching for old bridge planks to use on the outside to match the original planks. He was also able to locate some old, weathered barn siding from a building that had been torn down, and used it to side the house.
    Two and a half walls of the original sod remained, and Woody was determined to preserve them. The outside wall was built around the old sod walls, with sliding glass windows installed allowing the original sod to still be seen.
    Inside the house original wood pegs can still be found on one wall, which Woody says the original tenants used for hanging their coats. A small shelf built in to the sod wall also still remains, and Woody says the shelf was used by Rosetta to set her lamp on.
    Once the work on the house was complete, Cecil offered Woody the use of several old pieces of furniture and artifacts that were in the home when his parents owned it. The cousins then began talking about erecting a building on the property to house and display some of these old treasures.
    By now Woody’s daughter, Darla Vrooman, also of Dupre, had taken quite an interest in her fathers project. She advised her dad that putting a new building on the property would ruin it, and convinced him to instead restore the old barn.
    Cecil says when Woody decided to tackle the barn, he was pretty unsure of the outcome. He says the building was about to fall over, and he wasn’t sure it could be salvaged. But he now looks at the restored barn and is very glad Woody and Darla were so persistent.
    The barn now displays a host of old artifacts, many of them found and dug up on the farm by Cecil. Cecil still visits the farm a couple of times a day, where he has a large vegetable garden.
    Along with old farm implements, tools and toys, treasures uncovered include a horse-drawn buggy and an old sleigh, which had been hidden away for years in a back corner of the hay loft of the barn. Cecil says he has known about them for years, and is thrilled to finally have them uncovered for people to see and enjoy.
    “There is an old bobsled still back there,” says Cecil. “But we’ll get it out one of these days.”
    Members of the Woodward family were treated to a viewing of the restored property during a family reunion in July. Brunch was served at the house to 180 people, and Woody says he counted 80 cars at the place.
    “That is what I did this for,” Woody says proudly. “For the family members to be able to use and enjoy.”