Grafton County Farm
| Grafton County Almshouse | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Opened | 1860s |
| Current Status | Demolished |
| Building Style | Single Building Plan |
| Location | North Haverhill, New Hampshire |
| Alternate Names |
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History[edit]
Sometime in the 1860s, an almshouse was established on 650 acres of farm land on a bluff overlooking meadows and the banks of the Connecticut River in North Haverhill, New Hampshire. A fire destroyed the original buildings and were rebuilt in the 1880s.
The almshouse was a two-story brick building with two wings that housed the female “inmates” in the east wing and male inmates in the west wing. There were about 40 sleeping rooms, each containing either two single beds or one double bed, and two converted sitting rooms that provided beds for 10 additional inmates.
The asylum building was connected to the west wing of the almshouse by a covered walkway. On average, the asylum housed 20-25 patients, both men and women. Some men were allowed to work on the farm, but, as noted in an 1898 report, “most of the women are totally irresponsible, and have to be confined constantly in their rooms. This asylum has an unusually large percentage of exceedingly bad cases.” By 1907, all insane patients were moved to the State Hospital at Concord.
The 650 acre farm yielded plentiful crops and included pastures for 100 cows, 15 horses, and 100-200 pigs and hogs. After the jail was built sometime in the late 1890s, much of the farm labor was provided by the inmates.
A 1898 report described the newly built jail building as brick and two-story, with two tiers of cells, one above the other. Each floor contained four steel-walled cells. Inside each cell were two swinging frames for cots, a washbowl set, and a water-closet. The jail was able to house 32 male inmates. However, other reports from the late 19th century note how female inmates were housed too closely to their male counterparts. Conditions at the jail were horrible. One report noted that ““The sanitary condition of this institution is the most abominable to be found in any institution of its kind – or for that matter, in any other – in the State. It would be difficult to devise a more filthy and disgusting arrangement than is here to be found.”
Present Day[edit]
The Grafton County Farm, Nursing Home, and Department of Corrections currently sits on the grounds of the former almshouse, asylum, and jail buildings, though none of the original buildings still exist.
The farm is the only government-operated dairy farm in New England. Prisoners from the Grafton County Department of Corrections who are accepted into the farming program, work at the dairy barn, help with milking, or work in the calf barn for nine months before their release from the prison. Milk produced at the farm is sold to Cabot Cheese.
Grafton County Almshouse and Insane Asylum, 1889. A)Main house; B) East Wing (Female Dorms); C) West Wing (Male Dorms); D) Insane Asylum
Grafton County Farm buildings. From left to right: Jail, Insane Building, Men's Wing, Superintendent's House, Women's Wing, 1900.
Barns and outbuildings, 1900.
Grafton County Farm Postcard, year unknown.
Aerial view of Grafton County Farm, Nursing Home, and Department of Corrections, present day.
