Posted on Nov 6, 2023
Oregon counties once used poor farms to care for their neediest residents
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A century ago, on Nov. 6, 1923, the Multnomah County Poor Farm in Troutdale admitted 64-year-old Andy Dunn as a new resident in need of public support. The publicly funded relief institution operated as a working farm housing indigent residents.
Dunn arrived in Oregon in 1898 from Missouri and had worked as a general laborer for years, usually for the railroad. Census reports listed him as a widower living in boarding houses. Poor farm records say he suffered from a skin disease, but there is no other information about his condition. Dunn died at the poor farm in 1925, and his body ended up in a local mortuary. There is no record of a gravesite.
Dunn is just one of the thousands of people who quietly lived and died in one of Oregon’s many county poor farms — a bygone refuge for residents with no other options.
Dunn arrived in Oregon in 1898 from Missouri and had worked as a general laborer for years, usually for the railroad. Census reports listed him as a widower living in boarding houses. Poor farm records say he suffered from a skin disease, but there is no other information about his condition. Dunn died at the poor farm in 1925, and his body ended up in a local mortuary. There is no record of a gravesite.
Dunn is just one of the thousands of people who quietly lived and died in one of Oregon’s many county poor farms — a bygone refuge for residents with no other options.
Oregon counties once used poor farms to care for their neediest residents
Posted from opb.orgPosted in these groups: State of Oregon
Poverty
Poverty
Posted 6 mo ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel well... they weren't left to live on the streets...
..."An early idea for local responsibility
In 1854, Oregon’s Territorial government required counties to care for their impoverished citizens, but no guidelines existed for how to do that. Sometimes, counties gave direct cash payments to those deemed “worthy,” such as widows or veterans. More often, counties operated some type of poor farm.
Author and historian Megan Birk spent years studying poor farms for her book “A Fundamental Institution.” She says, “A poor farm was designed to provide shelter and food and sometimes health care for people in communities who were destitute and people who couldn’t take care of themselves using any other type of aid.”
Poor farms operated in communities all over the country. Birk says, “Not quite every county had one, but they were the kind of dominant local form of aid and relief for people for decades. In fact, more than 100 years in most places.”
In a time before federal social security or other social programs, those living in poverty, the sick and injured, and the elderly had few options. Birk explained, “We’re very accustomed today to thinking about relief being federal, state and then maybe local, but the inverse is true for most of U.S. history. It is local, maybe state, but definitely nothing federal until we get to about the 1930s.”...
..."An early idea for local responsibility
In 1854, Oregon’s Territorial government required counties to care for their impoverished citizens, but no guidelines existed for how to do that. Sometimes, counties gave direct cash payments to those deemed “worthy,” such as widows or veterans. More often, counties operated some type of poor farm.
Author and historian Megan Birk spent years studying poor farms for her book “A Fundamental Institution.” She says, “A poor farm was designed to provide shelter and food and sometimes health care for people in communities who were destitute and people who couldn’t take care of themselves using any other type of aid.”
Poor farms operated in communities all over the country. Birk says, “Not quite every county had one, but they were the kind of dominant local form of aid and relief for people for decades. In fact, more than 100 years in most places.”
In a time before federal social security or other social programs, those living in poverty, the sick and injured, and the elderly had few options. Birk explained, “We’re very accustomed today to thinking about relief being federal, state and then maybe local, but the inverse is true for most of U.S. history. It is local, maybe state, but definitely nothing federal until we get to about the 1930s.”...
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