Help add to this list of Poorhouses and Workhouses by city or town! We have started by adding documents from poorhouses from towns in Essex County and Middlesex County. If you know of any in Massachusetts (including Maine, as Maine was part of Massachusetts until 1820), please let us know. Feel free to use the list of questions to the right as a guide.
Topsfield Poor Records Added
We’re thrilled to be working with the Topsfield Historical Society in providing records of the Topsfield Overseers of the Poor from 1821 to 1862. We hope these will prove useful for anyone interested.
Heli Meltsner’s The Poorhouses of Massachusetts
Heli Meltsner’s book The Poorhouses of Massachusetts: A Cultural and Architectural History is wonderfully researched and written book. It’s a must-read for anyone interested in the history of the treatment of the poor in Massachusetts as provided by the local community and state government. Meltsner thoroughly covers major aspects of Massachusetts Poorhouse history, as shown in her table of contents:
- The English Heritage and Early Massachusetts Welfare
- Poorhouse, Workhouse and Almshouse (1660-1821)
- The Town Farm Initiative and Town-State Dance (18220-1862)
- The Town Farm Organization and Experience
- From Almshouse to Infirmary: 1863-the Present
- The Architecture of Municipal Building for Paupers
- Tramps and Tramphouses
- The Surviving Almshouses and Infirmaries Erected by Cities and Towns.