That was minimum size habitable dwelling required for "Prove-Up" if you were homesteading under the (1883) Federal Homesteading Act.
Could your family all live in a Eleven Foot square box.
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It did not matter. You could build larger, but if you wanted that land for free, one of the several requirements, was a dwelling 120 square feet.
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Hey, if you ever get to Nebraska, I highly recommend visiting the Homestead National Historical Park. We did during the 2023 summer trip. It was fantastic.
https://www.nps.gov/home/index.htm
https://www.nps.gov/home/index.htm
NO TAKING THE FREE!! Free = they own you! Stop feeling like you have to take care of everyone else! I don't have kids......I do have my precious animals!! I would never take FREE!! IT'S NOT FREE!!
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That was the minimum required size. You could build a larger home. Many people did build a small very small home to meet the requirements to prove up on their homestead. Later, when they build a larger home, that small home became a chicken coop.
I've been looking for a Nebraska history story of someone who had a dug out, home dug out of the side of a hill. I think it was 18 by 18 and had about that many people who lived in it over a winter. It didn't have a door! Nebraska can be brutal in the winter.
I've spent months living out of a 10x10 tent with my wife.
We love it
We love it
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My mother and her older sister and brother were born in a reclaimed chicken coop.
My family lived in a bedroom in a basement for months while my father and I got a handyman special habitable in Duluth Minn. Two parents and four kids.
I have a fallout shelter room that about 14x11 below ground and sealed up.
It will not be fun but if required.
Ben
This act I believe began just after WWII, in 1945 or 1946. It is a far cry from the earlier Homestead Act of 1862.
The old homestead act in California offered you 5 free acres, provided you built a 10' x 10' structure, and made $500 annual improvements.
120 sq ft is a 10' x 12', so very similar with California Homestead act.
The old homestead act in California offered you 5 free acres, provided you built a 10' x 10' structure, and made $500 annual improvements.
120 sq ft is a 10' x 12', so very similar with California Homestead act.
Here is a previous Act from 1862:
Passed on May 20, 1862, the Homestead Act accelerated the settlement of the western territory by granting adult heads of families 160 acres of surveyed public land for a minimal filing fee and five years of continuous residence on that land.
Passed on May 20, 1862, the Homestead Act accelerated the settlement of the western territory by granting adult heads of families 160 acres of surveyed public land for a minimal filing fee and five years of continuous residence on that land.
I would guide hunters for three months continuous with not a single day off, living in an 8'X8' tent deep in Alaska wilderness with one hunter, both of us living in 8'X8' plus all our gear.
Different hunters would be flown in (roughly) every ten days (weather permitting). The season would end in mid November or late October. They come in to extract me with a plane on skis.
Different hunters would be flown in (roughly) every ten days (weather permitting). The season would end in mid November or late October. They come in to extract me with a plane on skis.
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Our new basement is 25 by 25', no windows, one entry. That's alot bigger and that would be a pain if we were stuck in there with no exiting for a time.
The Little House books, the Ingalls family, I know that they moved a couple of times. Their place was small, but they eventually built on a kitchen. It amazes me around where I live how tiny the kitchen cooking areas were and the families to cook for were so large. Most of the homes in our area are not new, most built in the early 1900's.
But hey, if you're new to the brave new world and need the land to start your homestead, a tiny house to start would be ok. You'd be so busy working the land and getting your animals started, I doubt you would be inside much. That's how it is around here still. Two of our amish neighbors have the tiniest houses, it'd drive me nuts...one just had the 4th baby, the other neighbor has three. They do have big porches, and one has a big outbuilding (shed) that is finished inside.
The Little House books, the Ingalls family, I know that they moved a couple of times. Their place was small, but they eventually built on a kitchen. It amazes me around where I live how tiny the kitchen cooking areas were and the families to cook for were so large. Most of the homes in our area are not new, most built in the early 1900's.
But hey, if you're new to the brave new world and need the land to start your homestead, a tiny house to start would be ok. You'd be so busy working the land and getting your animals started, I doubt you would be inside much. That's how it is around here still. Two of our amish neighbors have the tiniest houses, it'd drive me nuts...one just had the 4th baby, the other neighbor has three. They do have big porches, and one has a big outbuilding (shed) that is finished inside.
