Lancaster County Home and Cemetery

Front: The Lancaster Commissioners of the Poor were established in 1791 to provide support for the orphaned, aged, and indigent. In 1867 Dr. J. Marion Sims donated $1,000 in gold to the Commission. They used the funds to improve and expand the county poor house, renaming it the Sims Home. A new, 16-room home was completed in 1914 and replaced the old complex, which had consisted of a number of smaller buildings. Reverse: The Lancaster County Home continued to serve the local population, including both white and black, until the 1940s. Today, however, all that remains of the old county home is the cemetery. The earliest known burials date to 1818 and the last dates to 1954. Because most buried here died as paupers it is likely that there are additional burials that remain unmarked.