The invention of mechanical balers in the mid-1800s led builders to use bales of hay or straw as building blocks, developing structural bale walls from native prairie cuttings called baled hay or from agricultural waste known as straw bales. Most historical bale buildings were constructed during the Kinkaid Homestead era, between 1904 and 1935, mostly in the Sandhills. Bales were stacked like giant bricks to form structural walls similar to sod buildings, often set in mud or concrete mortar and pinned together with rods. After settling, the buildings were fitted with chicken wire and plastered with clay, lime, or cement. Properly built and maintained, these structures proved sturdier than expected and could last indefinitely. Fewer than 100 from the historical period are known in Nebraska, and Pilgrim Holiness Church is the only known church built of baled hay. These Nebraska Style buildings later inspired a modern resurgence in bale construction, and since the 1970s thousands of bale buildings have been built worldwide, including many in Nebraska and the American Southwest.