History of Heritage Community Garden

Facts of History: The Williamson County Poor Farm, 1883-1944

• On March 30, 1874, the County Commissioners Court in Williamson County first discussed the idea of starting a county poor farm as a place to house the county indigents as is allowed stated in the 1869 Texas State Constitution, art. XII, sect. 26.
• First County Poor Farm was located near Florence, Texas. It was sold on October 25, 1877.
• The county bought 178 acres from Ira Harris & Frank Alexander, et al on January 4, 1883.
• The county bought additional acreage from Jno D. Isabelle Elliot on March 7, 1899.
• The county was in charge of purchasing the land, the maintenance and preservation of the farm, and all issues dealing with the county farm. The property was to be located in close proximity to the county seat, which is Georgetown in Williamson County.
• The Williamson County poor farm was one of thirty-five county poor farms in the state of Texas. In the 1887-88 Williamson County is recorded having 20 paupers, five of which were colored and three of which were foreign born.
• The county appointed a superintendent of the farm who lived on the premises. The superintendents for the Williamson County Poor Farm were J.R. Bryant, G.W. Dykes, John T. Bryson, S.K. Brown, John Sudduth, W.P. McNeill, J.A. Branch, W.C. Shaw, William Dunks, and George Smith.
• On the farm was a hospital, a house for the superintendent, an insane asylum, and a calaboose. The asylum was moved during the year 1887, and the last documentation of it in the Commissioner’s Court records is on May 10, 1887. The calaboose housed the farm’s residents. The residents included paupers, convicts, and insane persons. At times the farm did employ a guard and a cook.
• The Commissioners Court asked for bids to bore a well on the farm in 1886.
• The farm’s main purpose was to serve a self-sustaining community, but there are records that cotton was grown on the premises and then sold with the profit going to the county.
• Crops grown were cotton, corn, small grains, and sweet potatoes. Livestock included horses, mules, oxen, hogs, and chickens.
• The Commissioners Court conducted visits to the poor farm to check its condition. The farm was usually found to be in good condition, but it is often stated that the farm had insufficient farm equipment and not enough cultivated land to sustain the residents.