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Diverse Radio for Minnesota's Communities
In the mid-19th Century, Minnesota had homes for indigent Norwegians, Finns, Lutherans and Jews among others. Other people without some kind of support network had to put their faith in poor houses or farms if they had nowhere else to turn.
The Anoka County Poor Farm housed up to eight residents before it closed in 1935. If they were able, they contributed to tending the herd of cows, beef steers, chickens or crop fields that helped offset the cost of their care.
In the mid-19th Century, Minnesota had homes for indigent Norwegians, Finns, Lutherans and Jews among others. Other people without some kind of support network had to put their faith in poor houses or farms if they had nowhere else to turn.
The Anoka County Poor Farm housed up to eight residents before it closed in 1935. If they were able, they contributed to tending the herd of cows, beef steers, chickens or crop fields that helped offset the cost of their care. Anoka County Historical Society Program Director Vickie Wendel said an accounting of the budget shows the farm was cost-effective as far as social service support goes.
“The total cost was listed along with how much income had come from the farm being produced by the milk, the eggs, the grain that they sold and the aggregate benefit to the county was only four hundred and thirty-something dollars for the care of eight people for the whole year.”
The farm is now a high school athletic field.
Poor farms started closing down after the federal government began offering social security and other aid for elderly and handicapped residents.