Anderson County Poor Farm

In 1861 the Anderson County court asked the Legislature to authorize a poor house on no more than 200 acres near Palestine, and the war shelved the plan, according to Dana Goolsby's account of county records for Texas Escapes. The county bought about 462 acres on Sycamore Road in 1884 for $2,700. On January 1, 1887, R. J. Wallace became manager under a lease of $275 a year, while the county paid $6.50 a month for each pauper's food and clothing. About 100 burials were reported over fifty years, with records giving only the cost of each.

What the plaque says

Anderson County Poor Farm 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

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Texas State Railroad Excursion Train — 4.4 mi
  A round trip of about 25 miles of track between the Palestine and Rusk depots through the Piney Woods, on a line built by prison labor and reopened as a tourist railroad in 1976.

More markers nearby

• Fort Houston Cemetery — 2.3 mi
• Mary Kate Hunter — 2.6 mi
• Fort Houston — 3.2 mi
• Site of Knox Glass Company Plant — 3.3 mi