Wood County Infirmary

Wood County Infirmary
Established	1865
Opened	1869
Closed	1971
Current Status	Preserved
Location	Bowling Green, OH
Alternate Names

History

In 1865, the Wood County Board of Commissioners decided to build a poor farm. By 1867, they had raised enough funding to buy 160 acres southeast of Bowling Green, Ohio. The poor farm opened its doors in 1869 and six residents from the County Insane Farm in Perrysburg moved in. By the 1870's there were 65 residents. At this time, it was believed that poor work ethic was the reason why the residents of the poor farm were unemployed. The infirmary was thus considered rehabilitative. In reality, the industrialization and new technologies in agriculture had reduced the number of men needed to run the average farm, putting thousands of farm hands out of work. All residents of the infirmary (referred to at the time as “inmates”) performed daily chores that made it possible to run The Home as a self-sufficient farm. In 1949, many of the mentally ill, orphaned, and homeless residents were moved to other types of facilities due to state and federal legislation. At this time, The Home functioned primarily as a nursing home for the elderly. On February 15, 1971, the residents of The Home were moved to a new County Home about half a mile away. The County Commissioners proposed that the old building be torn down. Instead, The Home became the Wood County Historical Society and Museum. In 1975, it opened its doors to the public.

Lunatic House

Built in 1885 for $1,700.00, the Lunatic Asylum was designed to house mentally ill male residents. The first eight patients were transferred here in 1886 from the Perrysburg Insane Farm. By 1900, Ohio legislation mandated that all mentally ill patients transfer to state hospitals, which changed the focus of the facility to dormitory space for trustworthy male residents. Evidence of remodeling occurred between 1925 and 1940, most likely to accommodate more residents as a result of the Great Depression

Images

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Cemetery

The Ohio State Board of Charities recommended all county infirmaries set aside at least an acre of land for pauper burials. The Wood County Infirmary Cemetery was used from 1870 until the late 1940s. In 2019, the Wood County Museum, with the help of the Wood County Genealogical Society, identified 252 confirmed burials and dedicated a monument noting the people buried in the cemetery. Additional identifications of the deceased continue to be located and are documented. Records of those who either died at the county home or, due to financial circumstances, were place in a pauper grave do exist and are stored in the archives of The Wood County Museum.

Museum

The property is now home to the Wood County Museum. Museum website