poor farm

noun

1. a farm maintained at public expense for the housing and support of paupers.

Word History and Origins

Origin of poor farm¹

An Americanism dating back to 1850–55

Example Sentences

Going back to the 1800s, the city kept people off the streets by locking them up in jail or sending them to work at the county poor farm.

From Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles County was concerned enough to create a 152-acre “poor farm” in Downey, housing some 150 people who were put to work growing citrus, alfalfa, potatoes and onions, and raising hogs, chickens and dairy cows.

From Los Angeles Times

Going back to the 1800s, the city keeps “tramps,” “hobos,” “vagrants” and “winos” off the streets by locking them up in jail or sending them to work at the county “poor farm.”

From Los Angeles Times

Trejo moved to the industrial city of Queretaro, in central Mexico, more than two decades ago, seeking greater opportunity than could be found in the poor farm town in rural Michoacan state where he grew up.

From Los Angeles Times

From 1876 to 1912, impoverished and dispossessed locals were buried in the Duwamish Poor Farm Cemetery, most in graves unmarked.

From Seattle Times