In September 1825, the Stephenson County Board appointed a committee to investigate the need for a County Poor Farm to house the indigent and provide work for them. In 1854, the first "Poor House" and a house for the warden were built.
The early Poor Farm
On January 28, 1859, the Poor House was destroyed by fire. The blaze originated in the room of one of the patients, Lavinia Kohn, sometime after the matron made her evening rounds. Kohn, who had been locked in her room because she required restraint, died in the fire, and another patient was badly burned.
A new stone building was completed that same year. It had seven rooms and a dining hall on the first floor and ten rooms upstairs. A two-story brick building with ten cells was also constructed in the spring of 1859. It was used to house people then described as insane and, when required, cases of contagious disease. It was known as the "Asylum" or the "Pest House."
In 1872, the County Board approved the construction of a farmhouse for the superintendent. The house remained in use until it was torn down to make way for an addition to the present Stephenson County Nursing Home.
The Poor Farm was located on 10 acres. Several outbuildings stood on the site, including a large barn. The farm provided much of the food eaten there, including milk, butter, eggs, pork, potatoes and vegetables.
All bread was made in the home's bakery. Women's clothing and men's shirts were made at the home, and there was both a barber and a cobbler who repaired shoes and boots. Every able-bodied resident had work to do, whether in the barn, garden or house.
County support and expansion
The Poor House was supported by money from the townships. Each township was charged the cost of supporting the residents its supervisors sent to live there. Records show that the cost per resident was $1.08 per week in 1900 and $5.00 per week in 1915.
A February 1900 County Board report recorded "sixty-two paupers, twenty-six of whom are crazy, five who are weak and three who have fits." The wording reflects the terminology used in public records of the period.
In 1902, a three-story stone building was erected in front of the old building at a cost of about $20,000. It had room for 100 people. The stone used in the new building came from the Smith Quarry just off Walnut Road, about two miles north of the site.
In 1912, the name was officially changed from "Poor Farm" to "County Home."
In 1914, there were 101 residents. A few paid board, but many were without money. Residents included elderly and infirm people, epileptics, alcoholics, people described at the time as retarded or insane, and sometimes children or mothers with small children.
Children without parents were cared for in the superintendent's home, and efforts were made to find homes for them.
The 1927 fire and rebuilding
In July 1927, another fire destroyed the building, leaving only its heavy stone walls. A new building was erected using the original native stone walls. This time, the building had only two stories instead of the original three.
That reconstructed building is the structure that stands today.
From County Home to museum
A club museum brochure records that in 1961 the County Board voted to convert the County Home to a state-approved nursing home.
A countywide referendum was later passed to build a new, state-approved Stephenson County Nursing Home. The new facility was built and equipped to house 98 residents on a site north of the old County Home.
The old building continued to serve as a shelter-care facility for 56 residents.
On May 16, 1987, a new addition to the present County Nursing Home was ready, and the last shelter-care residents were moved from the old building to the new one.
The Stephenson County Antique Engine Club acquired the old County Home building. In the spring of 1989, the Silver Creek Museum opened its doors.