Town Farm, The - Easthampton MA
Posted by: 
nomadwillie
N 42° 16.742 W 072° 41.883
18T E 689811 N 4683323
The Town Farm, now the Easthampton Lodging House, is a historic poor farm. It was established in 1890 as an inexpensive way to provide for the town's indigent population.
Waymark Code: WM17BBH
Location: Massachusetts, United States
Date Posted: 01/19/2023
Views: 0
The Town Farm, now the Easthampton Lodging House, is a historic poor farm. It was established in 1890 as an inexpensive way to provide for the town's indigent population, and is the only locally run facility of its type to survive in the state.
The building exterior has only received modest alterations since its construction, the most notable being an addition to the west wing made by the Works Progress Administration in the 1930s.
Poor farms were a typical means by which communities provided for their indigent poor in the 19th century. This facility was established by the town in 1890, and originally included a wider array of agricultural buildings. The facility was operated as a farm until 1955, at which time the town sold of the agricultural equipment of the farm, and leased the agricultural land to local farmers. In 1974 the facility was formally named the "Town Lodging House". The town resisted an effort to bring the facility under state control in 1986; it remains the only facility of its type under local control in the state.
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