Merrimack County Farm

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Merrimack County Almshouse and Insane Asylum
Opened 1865
Current Status Demolished
Building Style Single Building Plan
Location North Boscawen, NH
Alternate Names
  • Merrimack County Farm
  • Merrimack County Nursing Home



History[edit]

The Merrimack County Almshouse and Insane Asylum were opened in 1865. The buildings were located in North Boscawen, New Hampshire, on a hill overlooking the Merrimack River, with the asylum located across the road from the almshouse. The original almshouse building was destroyed in a fire sometime in the early 1870s, then rebuilt out of brick.

The almshouse was a two-story building, not including the basement or attic, with the male "inmates" occupying the northern end and the female inmates in the southern. The center of the building was reserved for the superintendent's uses. There were separate entrances for each section. The attic contained a large room known as the "old ladies’ attic," containing ten beds for elderly female inmates.

The asylum was built in the 1860s, with a new wing adding 29 rooms in 1887. The newer asylum building had 41 rooms total. The old building contained 12 rooms that were reserved for "the worst cases." The female ward was on the first floor, while the male ward was on the second.

A 1900 report noted that "The insane in this county, fifty in number, have better quarters than the average, and are cared for as well as possible under the county system. Some are necessarily kept in close confinement, but seemed comfortable and tidy."

None of the original almshouse or asylum buildings exist today. The Merrimack County Nursing Home currently sits on the grounds of the former almshouse, while the Merrimack County Department of Corrections sits on the grounds of the old asylum.