Earth Construction on Earth Day

Today on Earth Day we celebrate something that is old which is now new again! Building with earth is an ancient practice. Popular once again, it was revived in the 1930s by the Mission Indian Agency because so much of southern California has sandy and clay soils, making adobe construction cost-effective, durable, fire-resistant and comfortable. Images from the Mission Indian Agency show the process of how homes were built with earthen materials and the Mission Indian newsletter contains a write-up of the work done to create adobe bricks.

Item: The Mission Indian, Volume 3, Number 6. Series: The Mission Indian 1932-1941. Record Group 75: Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, 1793-1999. (National Archives Identifier 176414828) 

Item: Photograph of Men Molding Adobe Bricks and Leaving them to Dry. Series: Photographs, 1936-1942. Record Group 75: Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, 1793 - 1999. (National Archives Identifier 170102543) 

Item: Photograph of Everista Myers’s House Under Construction at Pala. Series: Photographs, 1936-1942. Record Group 75: Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, 1793 - 1999. (National Archives Identifier 170102665) 

Item: Photograph of a New Home for Lenora Banegas. Series: Photographs, 1936-1942. Record Group 75: Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, 1793 - 1999. (National Archives Identifier 170100795)