Grayson County Poor Farm

Those who died at the farm lie in the cemetery beside it, mostly in unmarked graves. A Grayson County TXGenWeb researcher counts hundreds and has made files on more than 500 people tied to the farm or cemetery, which began as the small Vaden family burial ground and is also called the County Farm and Pecan Grove cemetery. The 1946 fire destroyed all the farm's records. Reports on conditions differed: some papers praised the farm, others described starvation and children bound by their hands. George Hughes, killed in the 1930 Sherman riot, was buried there.

What the plaque says

Grayson County Poor Farm FROM 1877-1963, THE GRAYSON COUNTY POOR FARM WAS A REFUGE TO MANY CITIZENS, INCLUDING THE ELDERLY WHO LACKED CAREGIVERS, ORPHANS, WIDOWS STILL RAISING CHILDREN, AND MENTALLY ILL INDIVIDUALS. RESIDENTS GENERALLY COMPLETED DAILY TASKS TO ENSURE THE PROPER FUNCTIONING OF THE FARM, AS IT PROVIDED THE RESIDENTS WITH FOOD AND THE COUNTY WITH SOME INCOME. IN THE 1870S, THE COUNTY PURCHASED 220 ACRES OF FARMLAND PREVIOUSLY OWNED BY THE VADEN FAMILY AND BY 1887, THE POOR FARM INCLUDED A SUPERINTENDENT'S LIVING QUARTERS, HOSPITAL, GUARD ROOM, ROOMS FOR PATIENTS AND 110 ACRES FOR FARMING. IN 1917, CIVIC SOCIETY MEMBERS LED BY EDNA GLADNEY, DISTRAUGHT WITH THE LIVING CONDITIONS, CLEANED THE FACILITY, WHITEWASHED THE WALLS, BROUGHT IN NEW MATTRESSES AND RELOCATED THE CHILDREN. THE POOR FARM EXISTED BEFORE FEDERALLY-MANDATED WELFARE ASSISTANCE AND IS A TESTAMENT TO THE STRUGGLES OF COUNTY GOVERNMENT IN CARING FOR THEIR COMMUNITY MEMBERS. HERMAN AND LOIS GOLDSTON RAN THE FARM FROM THE EARLY 1940S TO 1962. HE WAS THE LONGEST-SERVING SUPERINTENDENT AND THEY RAISED THEIR EIGHT CHILDREN ON THE PROPERTY. IN AUGUST 1946, THE GRAYSON COUNTY POOR FARM SUFFERED A FIRE THAT DISPLACED ALL ITS RESIDENTS. THE RESIDENTS LIVED WITH THE GOLDSTON FAMILY IN THE SUPERINTENDENT'S HOUSE, AS WELL AS THE MANY CABINS THAT WERE LOCATED ON THE PROPERTY FOR SOME OF THE RESIDENTS. THE FOLLOWING YEAR, A NEW BUILDING WAS CONSTRUCTED ON THE SAME FOUNDATION, REUSING THE EXISTING BASEMENT. IN 1965, A NURSING HOME RENTAL COMPANY BOUGHT THE LAND AND IT BECAME SHADY OAKS NURSING HOME, WITH MANY FORMER RESIDENTS TRANSFERRING THERE. IN THE 1970S SHADY OAKS WAS MOVED TO A MORE MODERN FACILITY. ALL THAT REMAINS OF THE GRAYSON COUNTY POOR FARM IS THE SUPERINTENDENT'S HOUSE, THE CEMETERY AND THE 1949 STRUCTURE THAT WAS CONVERTED TO A HOME. (2018)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge — 8.1 mi
  A 1946 refuge on the Big Mineral Arm of Lake Texoma, laid over land bought for Denison Dam and the site of the vanished railroad town of Hagerman, now a winter stop for geese.
• Eisenhower Birthplace State Historic Site — 8.8 mi
  The small frame house beside the Katy tracks in Denison where Dwight Eisenhower was born in 1890, bought by townspeople in 1946 and given to Texas in 1958.
• Eisenhower State Park — 11 mi
  A bluff-top park on Lake Texoma opened in 1958 on land leased from the Corps of Engineers, in the Red River country of Fort Johnson, Colbert's Ferry and the Butterfield stages.
• Choctaw Cultural Center — 25 mi
  The Choctaw Nation's history told from the Chahta side at Calera, with galleries from Nanih Waiya to the Trail of Tears and the reservation today, a living village and daily stickball.

More markers nearby

• Travis Lodge No. 117, A. F. & A. M. — 1.8 mi
• Wilson N. Jones — 2.1 mi
• Andrew L. Randell — 2.4 mi
• The Great Sherman Storm of 1896 — 2.5 mi