Beverly Poor House at 18 Cedar Street
1878 Tramp House, Middleton, MA
Andover Almshouse (1839) 7 Argyle St.
Help add to this list of Poorhouses and Workhouses by Essex County city or town! If you know of any in Essex County, please let us know. Feel free to use the list of questions to the right as a guide.
Amesbury
Andover
Andover Almshouse (1839) 7 Argyle St.
Beverly
Beverly Poor House at 18 Cedar Street
Boxford
Danvers
Essex
Georgetown
Gloucester
Groveland
Hamilton
Haverhill
Ipswich
Lawrence
Lynn
Lynnfield
Manchester
Marblehead
Middleton
1878 Tramp House, Middleton, MA
Newbury
Newburyport
North Andover
Salem
Salisbury
Saugus
Swampscott
Topsfield
Topsfield Overseers of the Poor Records
the owners of the house at 82 High Street in Ipswich have a small building behind their house that once sat by the Ipswich Depot. It is shaped very much like the Middleton tramp house. Ipswich primarily used the jail to house tramps, but their is reference in the 1896 town report to the “tramp house.
Hi Gordon, Thanks for this info!
Has anyone heard much about the City Home in Gloucester, which existed at least around 1916, maybe along Emerson Ave? There was a hospital associated with it.
I have just found that John H. McVarish of Gloucester worked as a nurse in the Gloucester City Home and Hospital on Emerson Ave. Source was 1930 Federal Census. It lists residents as “inmates.”
In doing family history research, I found an ancestor (I think) in the Amesbury poorhouse in 1920 called or located at Lionsmouth. He and his mother were also shown in the 1880 census as supported by the Town of Salisbury. Both were listed as insane. Not sure what that might mean or if they were in an institution there.
Does anyone know anything about the Amesbury almshouse/poorhouse? Did it have its own burial ground? And where was it located exactly?
Individuals who were considered “insane” were kept in the poorhouses along with the orphans and others applying for aide. I am currently researching and writing a short history of early treatment in the poorhouses. I am the author of 3 historical fiction books on history mental illness- the last one being Hearing Voices; Dorothea Dix and the Asylum Movement. Theses are available on Amazon.
Where would someone be buried if they died in the Almshouse in Marblehead?
I heard there was a cemetery under the hockey rink at Seaside Park that was used for poor and homeless residents in the 1800’s. Not much to prove it, other than talk from older folks.
Does anyone have any information or even pictures of the Haverhill City Infirmary, also known as the Poor House that was located at 61 Brown St., Haverhill? My great aunt was there from 1934-1940. Any information would be helpful.
My first cousin 3x removed Frank C Barton’s last known address in 1935 was 61 Brown Street in Haverhill. Can not find any info beyond that, no death record. Were you able to find any attional info on your great aunt?
Regards,
Diane F. Barton
I was looking at the 1860 census for Gloucester, Essex, MA and I see my 2nd great grandfather, William N. Parsons, listed on page 274 with >20 people with unfamiliar surnames. (His household carries over to page 275 as well.) On the left-hand column, in large letters are written the words “Poor Farm.” Over on the far right-hand column under the heading, “Whether deaf and dumb, blind, insane, idiotic, pauper, or convict,” people are listed as pauper, insane and idiotic. I wonder if you can tell me any more about what a poor farm is and where I might get more information about this particular “Poor Farm?)
My latest book Hearing Voices; Dorothea Dix and the Asylum Movement is the story of the American Poorhouses and the unlikely 18th century advocate for humane treatment. It is available on Amazon along with my other two books in the Voices series.
Looking for information about the poor house. Are there any records still available to see?
Salem, MA.
https://www.salemnews.com/news/local_news/forgotten-graveyards/article_976d51ff-3f43-5a4f-be00-d47013cc2c20.html
– Non-Extant. Designed by Charles Bulfinch and built 1816 (replacing a previous c. 1747 Almshouse on the same site)
– The Almshouse building was demolished in the 1954 and the adjacent hospital in 1986 to make way for the Collins Cove Condominium Complex
– Two unmarked burial grounds, oldest dating back to c. 1747
– Overseers of the Poor Records are held by the Phillips Library of the Peabody Essex Museum
Working on Genealogy and find in the 1880 census a married young woman (27 yrs) and two young children (along with a lot of other people) were living in (designated as an “inmate”) in the “Lynn City Almshouse” on Boston Street (Could not find the dwelling number). I am guessing since the husband was working in one of the shoe factories in the area, that he was a boarder in a home in Lynn, however, they couldn’t afford to rent a full house for the family so the wife and children went to such poor housing until they could “get on their feet”. I would love a picture of this almshouse if any can be found.
About the West Newbury Almshouse https://www.wnewbury.org/historical-commission/files/almshouse-almshouse-cemetery-town-farm-town-forest
About the West Newbury Almshouse Cemetery https://www.wnewbury.org/sites/g/files/vyhlif1436/f/uploads/almshousecemeterystory_4.pdf
A video about restoring the WN Almshouse Cemetery https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smDv0XfqpoE
Methuen’s poor farm was located at430 pelham street. It’s now a private residence. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Town_Farm
Does anyone know if the admission records for the Haverhill Almshouse still exist?