Bell County Poor Farms and County Home

During the second quarter of the nineteenth century, the importation of the factory system from England was followed almost immediately by the adoption of the Poorhouse System. Poorhouses were tax-supported residential institutions to which people were required to go if they could not support themselves. It was also believed that housing people in institutions would provide a way to reform the bad habits and character defects that were assumed to be the cause of their poverty. Three poor farms existed in Belton during the early 1900s.

On January 16, 1879, the Commissioners Court of Bell County authorized spending $1,450 to buy a 125-acre tract for its first poor farm. In 1880 the land was leased to George W. Raney. The second poor farm was located on about 200 acres on the Leon River. At the time, there were about 40 paupers receiving assistance. The farm was a financial burden for the county so it was sold in 1912.

In December of that year, the county bought the land across from North Belton Cemetery and ordered the building of three houses for the County Home. Mr. W. C. Durham was awarded the contract with the county to build a superintendent's house and three houses for the indigent. On December 11, 1912, there was opposition by a committee concerning the location of the new home. There are no records identifying the committee or exactly what the opposition was. However, on that day the following was stated in the Regular Session of Commissioners Court, "The request of the Committee to the Court to find some other location for the Pauper Home having been duly considered by the Court the request is unanimously respectfully declined by this Court." Just three short months later, March 15, 1913, the Commissioners Court announced the buildings for the County Home had been completed and fully inspected by the Court and found Mr. W. C. Durham, the contractor, had fulfilled all the obligations of the contract. The county judge directed the sheriff to move all female prisoners, all sick and disabled male prisoners, and all poor, indigent “cripples” and paupers “which to him may seem just and proper” to the new County Poor Home. Eleven inmates were admitted.

Through the years various rules and regulations were in force at the Home. At the November term of 1914, it was ordered by the Court that no person be permitted to the County Home except by authority of the Court, and that no person be admitted that has, or who has been exposed to any contagious or infectious disease, and all admitted to said home shall have been a bona-fide citizen of Bell County for at least six months before they were to be admitted. In 1917, it was ordered by the Court that any inmate had the right to leave said Home but if they left without permission of the superintendent or the County Judge of Commissioners Court they would forfeit their right to return until they were admitted by order of the Court.

In 1916, the County purchased 3 1/2 acres of land adjoining the County Home from Mrs. Sam Bigham for the sum of $100.00. That same year, a Jersey cow and calf were purchased for $75.00. A small house was built on the property to be used as a "smoke house." On December 11, 1922, the Court ordered the County Home Demonstration Agent to order one thousand cans to can some meat for the County Home and the County Auditor was authorized to trade for and purchase some beeves. By 1924, the houses and surrounding buildings needed repair and paint again. H. B. Pinston was employed to paint and Elmer Wilson to do the necessary carpenter work. The insured value of the home increased another $4,000.00 in 1927. On April 22, 1929, it was ordered that the bid of Bud Latham of Holland, Texas, to remove one of the cottages at the County Home for $50.00, be accepted. Bob Cass was employed to remove the weeds from the County Home in 1929. All decisions were made by the Court no matter how trivial they may have seemed. The Court was the head of this household!

As the years went by, the County Home survived through the Depression and World War II. Several hundred inmates were admitted and released. The average stay for a superintendent and his family was about two years; however, there were some who stayed as long as five years. The expenditures for the Home increased with health care, new refrigerators, heaters, beds, washing machines, raising salaries and the never ending repairs to the houses.

County Judge William C. Black was the driving force in closing the county home. Black called it “a remnant from another era,” and a newspaper article said it was a “skeleton in the county’s closet” because of the inmates’ living conditions. Throughout the inmate cottages there was an impression of deterioration. The cottages had little or no color inside. The walls were bare, dreary, cracked and dusty. Beds were aged as the antique furniture. Light bulbs dangled from sockets at the end of cords hanging from the ceilings. Shower and rest room facilities were very old fashioned. Several private rooms were vacant, but no waiting list existed. Located outside at the northwest end of the property was the weed infested "Potter's Field" containing about thirty to forty pauper's graves. Judge Black reported $16,100.72 was spent by the County to operate the home in 1966. On February 17, 1969, the Commissioners Court of Bell County met in the County Courthouse in regular session, and on the motion of Commissioner A. J. Lanham, the Court ordered that effective March 1, 1969, the County Home of Bell County would be officially closed. At the time of its closure, there were six residents who were moved to a nursing home in Temple. The Bell County North Annex and the Scott and White Belton Clinic now sit on the property. 

Gardner, Janet Clayton. Record of Inmates of County Home, Bell County, Texas, 1913-1969. Huntsville, Tex: J. C. Gardner, 1995. http://www.txbell.net/bellhome1.htm.

Sicking, Jennifer. “Poor Farm Housed, Cared for Needy.” Temple Daily Telegram, March 4, 2007. . .