Jersey County Farm

Jersey County Farm
Opened	1845 (Original building)
Closed	1956
Current Status	Preserved
Building Style	Single Building
Location	Jerseyville, IL
Alternate Names

History

In a special Jersey County Commissioners meeting on Oct. 13, 1845, the commission voted to purchase 166 acres in the county for the sum of $900 to establish a poor farm. By December of that year, it was up and running. The county, through the years, found that larger or more suitable facilities were needed, and thus the county would acquire different properties throughout the 1800s. Around 1868-69, 160 acres were purchased in English Township upon which was erected a large brick house, along with all the necessary outbuildings required for a farm. Even an orchard was planted in front of the house.

This building, which served as the third poorhouse, burned in 1887. Another one was built on the same property, which, in Aug. 1921, also burned. The fifth and final poorhouse was constructed not long after, and continued to serve its purpose until 1956, when it closed and was sold to Les Boner, thus turning the farm over into private hands. As the twentieth century wore on, the demographics of poorhouses, also known as county farms, were beginning to shift as society itself experienced major changes. Primarily elderly persons were housed in them. Now, societal advancements have made these county farms for the poor, elderly and mentally disabled obsolete, as newer, and even more humane facilities came to take their place.