Map posted and discussed in a May 13, 2024 post on True Fort Wayne Indiana History on Facebook . One comment stated: When it was torn down, many of the bricks from the structure of the A.C. farm were retrieved, cleaned up, and re-used by the people of the Waynedale United Methodist Church in the construction of their original building. Another comment: I've seen some old pictures of Indian Village, probably from the 1930s, where the streets were being laid out, there were only a few new houses and there were still some County Farm buildings standing.
Byron Wellness Community has its roots as the Allen County Poor House, built in 1853 in the Waynedale area. In 1916, the facility was moved to its current location and Fort Recovery, an anti-tuberculosis tent hospital was established. This later became known as Irene Byron Hospital. The facility was named to honor Irene Byron, who died while serving her country in World War I and was an executive secretary of the Anti-Tuberculosis League.
Although a showplace through the 1930s, the facility came on hard times until 1954 when the Allen County Home, as it was called then, was placed under the direction of a new superintendent, Orville Miller, who lived at the facility with his wife, Sylvia and four daughters. Miller took a vital role in updating the facility and inviting the community to help do so. Miller served until his death in 1965. The facility became licensed as a nursing home in 1966. Tom Kastanis was appointed superintendent in 1965 and the facility’s name was changed to the Allen County Health Center. It was that year that the facility became self-sustaining. This was primarily due to the implementation of the Medicare and Medicaid programs.
In 1974, the Allen County Health Center merged with the Irene Byron Hospital forming Byron Health Center with a bed capacity at that time of 500. The tuberculosis unit was then closed the following year resulting in a 466-bed intermediate care facility. The Medicaid program, which paid the cost of care for the majority of residents, did not provide sufficient funding to cover these costs. Rates had not increased sufficiently to keep up with inflation. The increasing cost of operating the facility resulted in the need for a subsidy from Allen County. John Mauch became the administrator in 1989. By 1990, the cost to the County approached $1 million and a decision to either close the facility or find another operator had to be made.
In 1995, the Allen County Commissioners signed an agreement with Recovery Health Services to operate the facility and Byron Health Center became the first county facility of its type to ever morph from being governmental in nature to being run as a private, not-for-profit entity in the state of Indiana. A few shorter-term administrators ran the facility from 1993 through 1997 including Ed Reef, Gene Larrabee and Ken Lizer.
Peter Marotti took over operations until his retirement in 2012 when current CEO, Deb Lambert, took over the helm until 2017. With Deb continuing with Strategic Planning, Executive Director, Sarah Starcher-Lane took over of day-to-day operations in July 2017.
Byron Wellness Community moved to its new state-of-the-art facility in May 2020 when it came to be known as Byron Wellness Community, at 1661 Beacon Street, in the heart of the medical corridor of Fort Wayne.
Anchoring the Historic 07 District - Fort Wayne is Quimby Village, and it is exciting to see more development occurring with the addition of Crescendo Coffee & More. Although the Clyde opened in 1951, the history of this area extends much further. In fact, most of the land across the Oakdale Bridge was used as the Allen County Poor Farm (1915).
The Allen County "Poor Farm," as it was originally called, was established in 1853 and was first located in the wilderness of section 29 of Wayne Township (in the area of present-day Elmhurst High School, north of Lower Huntington Road). In 1864, at the height of the Civil War, the entire facility was moved closer to Fort Wayne. An infirmary was built as the centerpiece to the new farm, in the area just west of the present-day the Oakdale Bridge, in what today is known as the Indian Village neighborhood and the Quimby Village Shopping Center.
The Poor Farm was discussed in several articles by The Waynedale News.com Staff. They have lots of interesting history articles on their Waynedale History page.
Also known as the County Asylum. The Allen County “Poor Farm,” as it was originally called, was established in 1853 and was first located in the wilderness of section 29 of Wayne Township (in the area of present-day Elmhurst High School, north of Lower Huntington Road). In that year George L. Parker was employed to keep the paupers at the Poor Farm for an annual sum of $600, and John A. Robinson was retained to build a house for the inmates for $750. These facilities were enlarged in 1854 and again, extensively, in 1860, during the directorship of James M. Read. In these years the director was required to furnish a team of horses, a wagon and harness, four cows and such farming equipment as would be necessary. The county, in exchange, paid Read $800 and furnished clothing and provisions for the inmates.
In 1864, at the height of the Civil War, the entire facility was moved closer to Fort Wayne. An infirmary was built as the centerpiece to the new farm, in the area just west of the present-day Bluffton Road Bridge, in what today is known as the Indian Village neighborhood and the Quimby Village Shopping Center. The new infirmary building was completed in June 1865, for $14,468, and James Read, the former overseer of the Poor Farm, was named Superintendent of the Allen County Asylum, as it was now called.
Expansion of the infirmary space was again required in 1871, and under Superintendent John Spice provisions were made to offer care "for the convenience and better management of the different classes of inmates" (History of Allen County, 1880, p.54). This is the facility that, in 1902, William Johnston came to superintend. Today, in Allen County, the descendant of the old county Poor Farm and Asylum is the Irene Byron Health Center. Behind the Main Building and connected to it with a covered porch was the Insane Ward. North of the Main Building was the Power House and Laundry. South of the Main Building was the Bakery and farther south were the horse and cattle barns, the horse barn being nearest the road.
Copied from I WAS RAISED AT THE POOR FARM posted March 9, 2005 in The Waynedale News.com. Most of the same text is found including photos on Allen County Infirmary at Asylum Projects.org. It was a memoir written in 1986 by Carl C. Johnston, a reprint from the Old Fort News 1986, provided by The History Center, Fort Wayne courtesy of Marilyn Horrell. The memoir, which includes some recollections of his aunt, Gladys Marie Young of Fort Wayne, concerns his youth at the Allen County Asylum under the superintendency of Carl’s grandfather, William H. Johnston, who governed the institution from 1908 to 1920.
THE POOR FARM SCHOOL I WAS RAISED AT THE POOR FARM - Continued by Cindy Cornwell posted March 23, 2005. The following is a memoir written in 1986 by Carl C. Johnston, a reprint from the Old Fort News 1986, provided by The History Center, Fort Wayne courtesy of Marilyn Horrell. The memoir, which includes some recollections of Carl C. Johnston’s aunt, Gladys Marie Young of Fort Wayne, concerns his youth at the Allen County Asylum under the superintendency of Carl’s grandfather, William H. Johnston, who governed the institution from 1908 to 1920.
The county home in Indiana : a forgotten response to poverty and disability by Hassett, Kayla at Ball State University. ABSTRACT: The county home is a rapidly disappearing building type in Indiana. Also known as the poorhouse, poor asylum, or county farm, the county home was Indiana’s first unified response to poverty and disability. County homes were built in each of Indiana’s ninety-two counties, but today, over half of these buildings either sit vacant or have been demolished. This thesis includes a survey of Indiana’s remaining county homes, recording forty-eight buildings in forty-seven counties. Information regarding each building’s architectural significance, condition, and current use is noted. Though reuse can be difficult, often due to large building size or rural location, it is possible. Several successful examples of adaptive reuse of county homes exist across the state, as this thesis illustrates. See her 353 page paper with photos THE COUNTY HOME IN INDIANA: A FORGOTTEN RESPONSE TO POVERTY AND DISABILITY A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE MASTER OF SCIENCE HISTORIC PRESERVATION BY KAYLA HASSETT (VERA A. ADAMS) BALL STATE UNIVERSITY MUNCIE, INDIANA MAY 2013.
County homes, once known as "poor asylums" posted September 1, 2018 on the Archives of Hoosier History Live podcast on Saturdays, noon to 1 p.m. ET on WICR 88.7 FM introduction starts with: In 1816, the first Indiana Constitution required counties "to provide one or more farms to be an asylum for those persons who by reason of age, infirmity or other misfortunes may have a claim upon the beneficence of society." Jim Glass.By the 1850s, "poor asylums" (as they were called then) had been opened in all 92 counties. According to Indianapolis-based historic preservationist Jim Glass, most of these residences - which later came to be known as county homes - had an adjacent farm. The houses were adapted to shelter the indigent and elderly; sometimes orphans and people with mental illnesses stayed in them as well. Most of the county homes closed after the creation of Social Security during the 1930s. But ten continue to operate across Indiana to this day.
In the nineteenth century, Indiana’s plan for caring for the poor and disabled centered on the development of poor farms, where people in need could work in exchange for housing and food. All 92 counties created poor farms between 1831 and 1860, but as federal agencies supplanted them, county homes gradually lost their purpose, leaving county governments and private owners struggling to find new uses for the historic complexes. Today, only 47 remain. In 2014, Indiana Landmarks supported a multiple property National Register nomination for all of Indiana’s county homes, paving the way for individual homes to be listed, Copied from a August 27, 2022 post by Indiana Landmarks on Facebook.
Poor Farms in Indiana by Indiana Genealogical Society, Inc. April 3, 2023
on YouTube #familyhistory#genealogy#indiana This was an IGS Facebook Live Event from May 2022. In May of 2022 IGS Facebook Live explored the topic of poor farms in Indiana with Judy Baker. Judy has a wealth of knowledge on the history and genealogy of poor farms in Indiana. The Indiana Genealogical Society is proud to host the IGS Facebook Live events, which are held on the first Tuesday of every month. For updates on our upcoming events, please visit our Facebook page at @indianagensoc. And if you have ancestors from Indiana, be sure to check out our website at www.indgensoc.org for more resources and information on how to connect with your Hoosier roots.
See: IGS Presentation on Poor Farms May 2022 posted May 4, 2022 by Indiana Genealogical Society on Facebook.
