In this study, the microbial recovery strategy and methane-feeding incubation were used for the long-term archived soil samples to clarify the existing methane oxidizing microbial information and methane oxidizing ability, and to explore the active methanotrophs with strong resistance to long-term drought stress. Soil microorganisms after 83-87 years of desiccation were resuscitated and incubated with high concentration of methane (20%). These archived soil samples were collected from the wasteland of Longyan City (Fujian), the paddy field of Nanchang City (Jiangxi), the dry land of Huayang County (Sichuan), the forest land of Yuzhong County (Gansu), the pasture of Huangyuan County and Dulan County (Qinghai). Methane oxidation dynamics were measured by gas chromatography. Three generations of the methane-oxidizing enrichments were obtained. Microbial genomic DNA was extracted for the third generation of the enrichments, and the community structures of total bacteria and methanotrophs were analyzed by high-throughput and clone sequencing for 16S rRNA and pmoA genes, respectively. The representative sequences of dominant methanotrophs were phylogenetically analyzed through phylogenetic tree construction. The results show that after a short resuscitation, all of the six soil samples show strong methane-oxidizing capacity. The methane oxidation rates for the first two generations of enrichment are 1.4-3.8 μg/(mL·h), while that reaches 4.9-7.7 μg/(mL·h) in the third generation. At the same time, some enrichments can also oxidize methane below the atmospheric concentration (around 1.8 μL/L). According to the results of Illumina Miseq sequencing, methanotrophs account for 39% ~ 85% of the total bacteria in the six enrichments, and Methylocystis (Type IIa methane oxidizers) is the dominant methanotrophs in the enrichment. Phylogenetic analysis of the clone-sequences finds that the enriched Methylocystis is closely relate to the known strain of Methylocystis rosea strain BRCS1, with the similarity of 16S rRNA gene and pmoA gene sequence are 99.86% and 99.05%, respectively. Therefore, Type IIa Methylocystis-like MOB has strong ability to endure drought stress after 80 years of desiccation, and its methane-oxidizing activity can resuscitate rapidly. Type II methanotrophs in the long-term archived soils deserve more exploration and application. Furthermore, the long-term archived soil samples still have high potential of biological activity.