“For the poor shall never
cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine
hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land.”
The Clark County Poor House, also known as the
County Poor Farm, was an institution of the late 19th and early 20th century for County residents who could not provide for themselves.
It was funded by the taxpayers and was run by an elected official known as the Overseer or
Superintendent.
It least two different locations had served as the Poor House for Clark County.
The first poorhouse was in Parker Township, on 400 St. north of
Martinsville, just south of
Olympic Road, between
Westfield
and Cleone.1 Later, by 1910,
it was located on Illinois Route 1 south of
Marshall. It consisted of a house and barn.
The buildings were torn down in the late 1950s to make way for the site of the
present-day Clark County Highway Office and Garage. |
