The past and future of Gothenburgs Sod House Museum and the world’s largest plow – MDJOnline.com

Baked by the sun and buffeted by wind, the southeast corner of a sod house is typically the first piece to fail and fall.

Merle Block would learn this lesson the hard way, some years after hed taught himself to build a home from the very ground around it.

He and his wife, Linda, were farming and ranching near Gothenburg at the time. But they felt called to tell the story of their ancestors, immigrants who landed in Nebraska and had relied on the earth to provide the shelter they needed.

They feared the areas connection to its past was slipping away.

Both of our families lived in sod houses in the 1880s and thereafter, he said recently from Arizona, where they were escaping winter. I grew up on a farm, but I never saw the sod houses.

In 1988, they bought 3 acres near Gothenburgs interstate exit, built a bright red barn and opened a museum, showcasing the areas rich Swedish history with old photos and pioneer-era items.

Merle Block put up the sod house next, cutting and stacking and shaping the bricks of soil into four walls and a roof. It took him three weeks and three good reference books, he said.

The couple now had the makings of a tourist attraction, but they needed more tourists. So he built what he called the worlds biggest sod-raking plow out of new steel and old bridge planks, four times larger than normal and a magnet for travelers.

It was just a showpiece, right up next to the interstate at the front of the lot. People would see it and pull off.

The sod-raking plow at the Sod House Museum is four times bigger than normal and made with new steel and old bridge planks.

But he wasnt done. He collected all of the scrap barbed wire his neighbors, and their neighbors, could offer, and taught himself to be a sculptor.

He wrapped more than 3 miles of fence wire into a Native hunting on horseback, 4.5 miles into a buffalo grazing nearby.

I put the buffalo out in the grass beyond the sod house and the barn, and theyd spot that right away. People kept coming back and bringing friends and showing them. And thats what we wanted.

The buffalo grazing near the Sod House Museum is made out of 4 miles of old barbed wire.

Those early years, they were averaging 50,000 visitors a summer, he said. They didnt charge admission, but they accepted donations and sold souvenirs in the sod house.

That still didnt do it, he said. It wasnt a money-making project.

They welcomed visitors for nearly three decades, even as the Pizza Hut and Howard Johnson and Comfort Suites and espresso shop moved into the area, and the sod house weathered and he had to build it back up, and the sculptures rusted and the demands of running a museum started taking a toll.

They shut it down two years ago.

We hated it that we had to close, but the time comes when it doesnt work. The wife said: Were old. You get up into your 80s; you just dont want to work.

They put their attraction on the market last year: barn, sod house, barbed-wire buffalo and Native, worlds largest plow -- 3 acres of interstate-area property -- for $119,000.

Merle Block collected scrap barbed wire to create a Native on horseback.

Gothenburg is proud of its pioneer history, promoting its Pony Express station, the historical museum and, for years, the Sod House Museum.

And its boosters have been monitoring the future of the property. It needs updating, but its still a draw, said Deb Egenberger, executive director of the Community Development Office.

Wed love to see it remain there, she said. We have a lot of folks who come right off the interstate and want to see it.

The offers started trickling in, said Stephanie Walker, an agent with Gothenburgs Remax Farm, Home and Ranch whod never sold a sod house before.

It was a unique listing, just because it wasnt a typical commercial listing.

Most potential buyers had plans for the property that didnt include telling the tale of the areas history.

Merle Block spent three weeks building the sod house in 1988.

But then the right offer appeared. A fair price, and a letter pledging to continue the museums legacy, while making some changes and updates.

That meant something to the sellers, Walker said. The property is under contract, the deal should close soon and the hand-built tribute to the past should have a future.

The Blocks are very much tied to that, she said. And theyre glad to see it continue.

The porch swing isn't the only attraction in Nebraska that claims a "world's largest" title. The Leon Myers Stamp Center at Boys Town is home to the world's largest stamp ball. The colorful ball has a 32-inch diameter, weighs 600 pounds and contains 4,655,000 postage stamps.

In downtown Omaha you'll find a 13-foot fork gathering up a bite of metal pasta. Jake Balcom designed the stainless steal sculpture called "Stile di Famiglia" (Family Style) for the The Homeowners Association of the Towns of Little Italy. You can see the sculpture at 1115 S. 7th St.

More about the artist: Jake Balcom

The Klown Doll Museum in Plainview is home to more than 7,000 dolls. Don't miss Stumpy the Klown, the museum's 8-foot-tall wooden mascot.

Beneath this concrete pyramid in Seward is a time capsule filled with an assortment of artifacts including a Chevy Vega. The items were placed in the capsule by Harold Davisson in 1975 with instructions to open the capsule on July 4, 2025. The pyramid is billed as the world's largest time capsule.

Hebron claims to be the home of the world's largest porch swing.

You can't have a list of odd attractions without including Carhenge. The monument near Alliance is one man's automotive tribute to England's ancient Stonehenge.

The tiny northeast Nebraska town of Maskell is home to the smallest city hall in the United States.

The Archway museum straddles Interstate 80 near Kearney. The 310-foot-long elevated building features exhibits and stories about America's western expansion.

The lower level of the Hastings Museum is dedicated to Kool-Aid, which was invented by Hastings native Edwin Perkins.

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The past and future of Gothenburgs Sod House Museum and the world's largest plow - MDJOnline.com