Historical Origins of the Flint Hills Arched Cellars

These arch-roofed, stone structures present us with many questions. Who built them, and when? What were they used for? How were they constructed? The answers to these questions elude us. Because these structures were part of everyday life, many people who built them saw no need to write about them. Most settlers to the Kansas frontier, if they wrote memoirs at all, probably did not consider their cellars a subject to write about in detail. Despite this, there is evidence that can shed light on the origins of these mysterious structures.

At first glance, these buildings seem similar to other ancient stone structures or even megaliths found in other parts of the world. The chambered tombs and passage graves of the British Isles; Cairns and Souterraines of Scotland; Bee-Hive Huts of Ireland; Cairn structures from coastal Croatia, Greece and the islands of the Mediterranean; as well as the Fogous of Japan; share similar visual elements with the arched-roof cellars of Kansas.

This is probably coincidental. The arched-roof cellars of the Flint Hills are likely an independent innovation. While these buildings are visually similar, there is no evidence to link them directly. The presence of the arched roof is also unique, as most of the older structures from elsewhere in the world used flat slab roofs, and some were circular rather than rectangular in design. Although the visual similarity is striking, the people who created the arched-roof cellars of the Flint Hills were unaware of similar ancient stone structures from around the world.

Early Cellars in America

The history of early European colonization of New England presents one significant piece of the puzzle. English colonists arriving in the early seventeenth century experienced a more extreme climate. The temperatures in Chesapeake Bay could swing from 10 degrees Fahrenheit cooler to as much as 20 degrees warmer than temperatures in Great Britain. Humidity in the colonies was also higher, especially in the south. This more extreme climate made food storage difficult.

To solve these problems, colonists learned methods of long term food storage from Native Americans, who had long devised ways of dealing with these issues in the American climate. The most significant of these methods was the underground storage pit or cellar house. By digging “subfloor pits,” also called “cooling pits,” under their houses, Chesapeake Bay colonists could keep root vegetables and other foodstuffs cool in the summer and warm during winter.(1)

Cellars existed in England, but were somewhat rare and not usually used for food preservation. A study comparing housing in East Anglia, England, with that of Suffolk County, Massachusetts, shows that from 1635 to 1749, only about 4 percent of houses in East Anglia included a cellar. From 1630 to 1660 in Massachusetts, 50 percent of the houses included cellars.(2) Cellars were more common in America, due to the extreme climate and Native American influence.

Although the concept of using cellars for food storage can be traced in this way, the arched-roof structures of the Flint Hills of Kansas are not necessarily a direct descendant of this tradition. Many of the European settlers to Kansas were not necessarily descendants of original New England colonists. Many came directly from of Europe and brought their own heritage, skills, and traditions. Some of the arched-roof cellar structures found throughout the Flint Hills are indeed underground cellars, but many others are free-standing, partially or fully above-ground buildings built into hillsides, embankments, or dirt mounds. The origins of these buildings are much less clear. Due to the lack of any mention of root cellars prior to 1609 (Gage) it seems possible that the Native American technology made it's way back to Europe and was incorporated into the homesteads of these other european cultures which in turn adapted their own building styles in their design. In the late eighteenth century, colonial American journals and advertisements begin to reference “root cellars,” “root houses,” or “Dutch cellars.” These descriptions indicate a type of free-standing structure similar to those found in the Flint Hills, with the exception of the arched-roof feature. Whether these eighteenth century cellar structures are connected to the cellars of the Chesapeake Bay colonies – and whether either type is related to the Flint Hills structures – is questionable.(3)

Arched Cellars in New England

Flint Hill Structures

In 1854, the United States Congress passed the Kansas-Nebraska Act. This bill created the Kansas territory, opening it for settlement. At the time, friction between slave states and free states was incredibly high, and many Americans were preoccupied with the question of whether Kansas would permit slavery. The act left this decision up to a popular vote – settlers would move into the newly formed territory and vote on whether Kansas should allow slavery or remain free.

Settlers on both sides of the issue raced into Kansas to establish themselves and push for the creation of a state government of their preference. Violence broke out between pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions in a period of strife known as “Bleeding Kansas.” While many of these settlers attempted to build local government, they also built root cellars. Settlers from other parts of the world poured into Kansas, bringing their unique cultural traditions and skill sets to the prairie.

Germans and Swedes made up the largest groups of immigrants to the Kansas Flint Hills in the mid 1850's and 1860s. Welsh immigrants also moved into the area around the same time. All of these groups exhibited a high degree of masonry and stone-working skill as a part of their cultural heritage. Many of the original stone buildings and fences built by these settlers can still be seen today in areas within Wabaunsee, Geary, Riley, Pottawatomie and Chase Counties.(4)

Nature of the Terrain awaiting the Flint Hills Settler: Few Trees and a lot of Rock!

 

The vast, flat grassland encountered by these settlers lacked timber. Prairie fires, blazes set by American Indians, had rendered the Great Plains treeless. Tribes of native peoples had different reasons for using prairie fires, but most included controlled fires for communication and war. As a hunting aid, they influenced movement and migration patterns of bison through fire and smoke. Fires improved pasture quality, which also affected Bison movement. Hundreds of years of these practices had rendered the landscape virtually treeless at the time settlers arrived to the area.(5) The Flint Hills region in particular was short on lumber, but had a plentiful supply of stone near the surface.

Many of the German settlers to the area were Russian-Germans, German families that had immigrated to Russia in the past, and represented a blending of these two cultures. These Russian-Germans were primarily from the Volga region, near the Black Sea and the Ukraine. In the late nineteenth century, political changes in Russia, an economic downturn, and a series of famines led Russian-Germans to immigrate to the United States, concentrating particularly in North and South Dakota and Kansas.

The geography and climate of the Great Plains was similar to the Russian steppe, making Russian-German building techniques particularly applicable to Kansas. These settlers clung tightly to their traditional architecture styles and construction methods and tried to avoid American influences. The scarcity of timber in the region was true of their homeland as well, and they made use of a sun-dried brick-and-mortar technique known as Batsa. Their traditions, including extensive use of cellars, did not usually feature the arched-roof style, but instead used a gable roof.(6) However, some settlers did occasionally make use of arched-roof structures, such as the large cellars built by German immigrants to Cincinnati and St. Louis in the 1850s. These were primarily used as icehouses for brewing and storing beer.(7)

Multi-Purpose Structures

These arched-roof structures were able to serve multiple roles for homesteaders. Although most were built as root cellars or storm shelters, their first use, even in the New England Area (Cage), but especially in the sparsely populated frontier, might have been that of a dugout home. These structures would offer top-notch security for the settlers from the weather and make the wild swings in temperature tolerable. Kansas was then, as today, tornado alley so being able to have a refuge from extreme weather, a storm shelter, was paramount. These structures would often be built first and lived in for the first year or two while a generally modest home was erected. At that point the structure would go from a home, protecting the very lives of the settlers, to a shelter for their food stuffs through the changing seasons. This was especially the case among the Swedish and German settlers of the Flint Hills. It would always remain the storm shelter in times of need. Other functions these structures would have served ranged from that of spring houses, built to protect a spring on a settler’s property and to help provide water; a sistern to gather rain water; a brick kiln; and even a bread oven. These were truly important utilitarian structures/items for these early homesteaders.

Personal Stories

Much is still unknown about these structures, mostly because few records exist about their construction and use. To the average Kansas settler in the mid-nineteenth century, details about their cellar or storm shelter probably did not seem notable. However, we do have some sources that shed light on who built these structures and what they were used for. One very detailed story comes from Agnes McPeak, who was just a child in the late 1800s. She recalls that on her family’s property was,
"an arch cellar, the stones pigeoned holed or dove tailed as it was sometime called. It was built in 1894 by the same stone mason who built the strong stone wall of the cow lot. It still stands. . . . A wooden roof was built over the arch cellar (this is long gone). There was a small pipe for ventilation through the roof. This cellar was the storage place for our dairy products. It was also for vegetables, such as potatoes or apples or turnips. In summer it was very cool in this cellar. A large thick door, also a screen door was erected. There were three steps down to enter. The cellar was a refuge in severe electrical storms and high winds. Mother would light the lantern and she and we children would go hand in hand to the cellar and wait for the storm to abate."(8)

An anonymous journal from Clinton, Kansas from a woman born in 1909 demonstrates how prevalent these structures were by that time, noting, “We had a storm cave close to the house. . . . I don't know who first dug and built the cave or for what purpose. Caves were used both as storm shelters and as a place to store fruit and vegetables. Such caves are still prevalent in many places.”(9)

Dugout homes from other regions of the country:

The 1879 diary of Elam Bartholomew describes how many settlers used these structures. He writes,
"We found rather an odd but perhaps a very advisable practice in vogue among the citizens of the town which was that the principal part of the people had made little dugouts or caves near their homes that they might fly thither in case of the appearance of another tornado; we were told that many of the people, during the latter part of the season, would fly to their little dugouts whenever a little thunder shower came up."(10)

Newspapers from the period also demonstrate the widespread use of these structures as storm shelters. The May 22, 1896 issue of the Wichita Daily Eagle records a storm that spawned “Seven Cyclones at least,” and that many families and individuals “saved themselves by getting into caves.” These “caves” are likely these same arched-roof structures, as the article describes one family who endured the storm “in the cyclone cave and escaped without serious injury, although the cave was unroofed and some of the arch stones fell into the cellar.”(11)

Nearly a year later, in April 1897, the Eagle reported that another tornado had inspired the construction of over 1,000 storm caves in Oklahoma. The paper printed an article that described the “Best methods used in building the refuge from the whirling enemy of mankind – Above everything else they must be staunch and strong – Best location is to the southwest of the dwelling.”(12) Many of these structures are described as being fully underground. However, most of the Kansas structures are at least partially above ground.

The Flint Hills stone caves were used as far more than just storm shelters. They were useful for food storage, and also served as homes, sometimes temporary and sometimes long term. Theodore Weichselbaum, a settler to the Ogden area in 1856, recorded his experiences in 1908. He built underground cellars as breweries, but later repurposed them for grain storage and stables.(13) Some settlers used them as a smoke house for cooking, or even for bee-keeping.(14)

Strangely, there was very little to be found about the arched roof structures in the area of the Flint Hills (or anywhere else for that matter), although it seems clear that their purpose had similar origins as these more commonly documented forms of dugout structures. It seems likely this was in large part due to the time period various areas were settled. The sod houses depicted here were likely built later than the more permanent stone structures of the Flint Hills. More photographers and better photographic equipment were available when these dugouts were built and inhabited, so these are more commonly seen in photographs.

 

Several family histories from the Bluestem Prairie area describe the construction of these stone cellars and how many families lived in them until other more permanent homes could be built. The Carlson family lived in their dugout home for eight years until building a stone house. The Hanson family built a large home in 1880, but before then “they had lived in a dugout for several years where their oldest children were born.” The Pishney family had a similar experience. “Their home was a dugout which is now a cave on the Loren Smercheck farm.” The Bloomquist family also lived in their stone cellar. “They each dug caves to live in until a house could be built. The advantage of living in a cave was the temperature was the same winter or summer.” The Parker family purchased land and found that a previous occupant had already constructed “a cave with an arched limestone interior and a chimney in the far end made in the side of the hill.” (15 - Refer to the George Parker cave in the location list for images.)

One of the most detailed accounts comes from Mrs. Hattie E. Lee, who was born in 1868. She describes how her family used the original stone structure as other buildings were later erected around it in the 1880s. “The family never lived in the frame house; we used the first stone house and attic to live in. . . . The frame house was built over the dugout and the dugout was used as a cellar to store things away in. We still used the stone room for dining room and kitchen.” She describes the use of a stone storm shelter and cellar in 1902, saying, “In July, 1902, the children were playing out and Will ran in and said, ‘Oh, Mother get into the cave quick a bad storm is coming.’ I closed the house and we ran to the cave dug in the bank of the slough. . . . There was only a screen door on the cave – it was just a small place near the well to keep our cream and butter cool.” It is unclear whether this is the same structure from when she was young.

Lee relates stories of many other settlers she encountered who also lived in these structures.
"Early in the spring of 1873 two Swedish-speaking families from Galesburg, Ill., came to Osage City . . . . The fathers, Magnus Lungren and John Sutherland . . . immediately built a one-room shack. In this roughly built but the two families lived together for several months [sic]. Towards fall Lungren made a cave on his farm. In this cave the young Lungren family lived for several years."
Other Swedish settlers had similar practices. Lee describes, “The Swedish-speaking settlers who came to Stotler in 1874 . . . . [such as] Swan Lundholm, Andrew Chelberg, and C. I. Johnson, all of whom built caves as their first Stotler homes.”(16)

Link to interviews regarding their many uses: Click Here

Evidence that these arched caves might have been used as a home:

Signs that the Flint Hills arched roof structures might have been used as dugouts during their tenure include having large windows in the back or sides, facing south or maybe any direction other than north, having a single entrance opening straight out to flat ground, remnants of household objects left in the structure, and most of all, stories passed down about them.

Why would the Flint Hills structures be built of such permanent material? It doesn't seem likely that this was because the early settlers expected to live in the area for generations. It was about making the best use of their skills and resources, and the likelihood that the builders were potentially very forward thinking enough to know that the structures would have continued usefulness even after they stop living in them. Was it about permanence like the stone buildings at Kansas State University, or was it making the best of what resources and skills they had at their disposal? It seems much more likely that it was the latter. It seems doubtful that the settlers were thinking they wanted a structure that would last for millennia. It's likley most weren't confident they would be in the area for very long at all.

Landscape of the Flint Hills: Founding of Manhattan, Kansas

 

How were they built?

For quite a long time I was unsure of just how these stone structures would have been built. When I asked people about them who had one on their property or knew of them elsewhere, I seemed to get a similar story as to just how this might have happened. For instance, some claimed they were built over a mound of dirt. This seemed logical enough until I was set straight by a mason who told me that this would make no sense. Dirt would be subject to compaction and settling especially if it were wet. There was more than likely a scaffold or support system in place. Could someone have actually used the dirt method? What if the dirt was actually shaped from the existing compacted rocky soil on the spot and so it had already been compacted for centuries or millennia before the attempt to build over it? Some do seem irregular enough to think this might have possibly been the case.

I do think that some of these structures were built by much less skilled craftsmen than others. Possibly even some were built just from a memory of seeing a similar structure built in the builder's home country. As you look at the variety visible in the way their stones are laid out and how their stones were apparently quarried you can tell some were much more primitively built than others. I came to understand that it was likely that the settlers would trade their handiwork with each other and even at times, especially around Fort Riley, the government would contract skilled masons to go out and build robust arched caves in order to incentivize the homesteaders staying in the area. Many of these are made using huge, possibly machine-cut stone that is clearly jointed with mortar. Most of these I found in the McDowell Creek area south of Fort Riley. Further away, around Alma and other areas not near the fort, the use of the dry stack stone method is much more common. These methods used no mortar for jointing, but instead counted on friction and gravity to do the work. Later, many of these would have had mortar injected in between the rocks and even given a whitewash of lime plaster in order to avoid water seepage and mold.

The methods for constructing these buildings remain a mystery. While some of the stories above refer to the hiring of stonemasons, some settlers attempted to build the stone structures themselves. The Flint Hills area provided plentiful natural stone for building material. Some settlers, such as the Poole family, were able to quarry stone from their own land.(17) As one early Wabaunsee County homesteader recalled, “I got out stones for a cellar and had to haul them four miles. I dressed them myself and lay up the walls of the cellar and it is still standing. I built a house over it of native lumber.”(18)

Clearly these structures are versatile and stand as a testament to the ingenuity of the original settlers to the Flint Hills region of Kansas. They are an important part of the cultural heritage of the varying origins of those pioneers, and provide key insight into their lifestyles. Much is still unknown about these structures, and they continue to provide a sense of beauty and mystery about the past.

Wood form Vs. Dirt Form

From an interview with Margy Stewart, local historian from the McDowell Creek area of the Flint Hills, “In the early years of the settling of the Flint Hills there were often many more people living in some of the now rural areas than there are today. It used to be that farmers bought or were awarded quarter, half, or full sections. Notably, a quarter was 40 acres, a half was 80 acres, and a full was 160 acres. So at some point you would have had much of these areas with a small homestead just over a hill or clearing from each other, one every 80 acres on average, often with 13 or more children in hopes that some would survive, often with a dugout. Often these smaller plots were quickly consolidated and were owned by single families. This made it so that many people found themselves needing to move on or to work the land for others. Then there is also the thought that the grass is always greener which would drive many homesteaders to cut their losses having decided that the terrain was too rugged, or maybe just heard of a better opportunity elsewhere. This would drive many more to leave these areas." Interestingly, nails were so rare at times to early pioneers and settlers that they might burn down their own home  in order to reclaim the nails before moving on to the next settlement.  This might help to explain why there can be so little found accompanying some of these stone chambers. That and the fact that many settlers might not have ever built more than a simple dwelling like these caves before dediciding to leave or simply selling the property for a profit. In the book “Ghost Towns of Kansas,” it describes the fact that there were over 5,000 communities around Kansas that went from boom-to-bust during the first 50-100 years of its life as a territory, and later as a state.