Van Buren County Poorhouse

Van Buren County Poorhouse is a Michigan historical marker in Hartford, Van Buren County, dedicated 2024.

6215 Red Arrow Highway, Hartford

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Constructed in 1884 as the county poorhouse and infirmary, this building housed people who were indigent or had intellectual or developmental disabilities. Residents performed many tasks, including working on the grounds and the adjacent farm. They produced much of the poorhouse’s food. The building operated as a county social welfare office from 1951 to 1958, reflecting society’s changing methods of aiding the poor. In 1973 the Van Buren County Historical Museum moved into the structure.

TodayHistorical map

Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.

Barry Lawrence Ruderman Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

Historical maps covering this location

1873 · (Map of Van Buren County, Michigan) (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1873 · Michigan. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1874 · Colton's Michigan (1874) (Barry Lawrence Ruderman Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1886 · J.T. Barker's Railroad and Township Map of Indiana. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1897 · Southern Michigan. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)

Colton's Michigan (1874), 1874, covering the location of Van Buren County Poorhouse, with a pin at the marker's coordinates — Colton's Michigan (1874), 1874, covering this location. Barry Lawrence Ruderman Map Collection, Stanford Libraries. The pin is ours, placed from the marker's coordinates.

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Marker data: Michigan History Center
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