Ohio's Infirmary Buildings

Ohio’s Infirmary Buildings uses historic and documentary photography as a tool to examine the structures once used to house Ohio’s poor. Ohio became a state in 1803, and it took 48 years to establish all 88 counties. On February 26, 1816, the Ohio General Assembly officially authorized boards of county commissioners to obtain farms that included housing for paupers (or the poor), and by 1874, each county in Ohio had what was originally called the poor farm. The former Wood County Infirmary ...