Kaufman County Poor Farm
Kaufman, Kaufman County, Texas
Marker Inscription
As did many Texas counties of the era, Kaufman County created a poor farm in 1883 in order to provide the indigent residents and families of the area with food, shelter, and medicine. This work program replaced earlier relief efforts. All able-bodied persons were required to work, including resident guards and county inmates convicted of minor crimes who were originally brought from the jail daily for labor; by 1893 they were housed on the farm. In the 1930s the farm was used to demonstrate new agricultural techniques. Usually filled to capacity, the farm operated until the 1970s. By 1997, a cemetery and a few buildings remained. (1997)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Like many Texas counties in the 1880s, Kaufman County opened a poor farm in 1883 to shelter and feed indigent residents while replacing older, ad hoc relief. All able-bodied residents worked the land, and by 1893 even county inmates convicted of minor crimes lived on site; in the 1930s the farm doubled as a showcase for new agricultural methods. Usually filled to capacity, it operated into the 1970s, leaving behind a cemetery and a few buildings.
Why it matters
The poor farm records how rural America cared for—and put to work—its most vulnerable citizens before modern social welfare, a chapter of everyday hardship easily forgotten.
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