Anderson County Poor Farm
Palestine, Anderson County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Although county records show some attempts to care for the poor as early as the 1860s, property for a poor farm was not purchased until 1884. Various buildings were erected, including housing for residents and a caretaker, storage barns, a cotton gin, and a canning operation. A jail building was also in use for convict laborers who worked on the farm and on county roads. The ruins of several wells can still be seen throughout the property. A cemetery containing some 75-100 graves is located near the southern edge of the original farm site. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836 - 1986
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Long before public welfare systems, counties cared for their destitute on "poor farms," where residents worked the land in exchange for shelter. Anderson County bought property for one in 1884, building housing, storage barns, a cotton gin, and a canning operation, plus a jail for convict laborers who worked the farm and county roads. Today only the ruins of wells and a cemetery of 75 to 100 graves mark the site.
Why it matters
Poor farms and convict labor reveal how nineteenth-century America handled poverty and punishment through work, a stark chapter in the history of social welfare and county governance.
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