Oddsconsin...where we explore peculiar and sometimes mysterious features of Wisconsin’s human landscape. 

Travelers along County Highway BB in Waupaca County will have noticed the imposing two-story historic brick building at the intersection of BB and Bear Lake Rd. What was this? A school? A hospital? There’s not much evidence, just the year “1895” chiseled into the stone of the Italianate-style central tower. There's a large historic plaque to the east...but it's completely blank. 

This building is part of the old Waupaca County Poor Farm. From the late 19th century until well into the 20th century, poor farms could be found all over Wisconsin. They were established to care for local people in desperate situations – homeless, poor, widowed, pregnant but unmarried... In exchange for room and board, the residents worked on a communal farm.

At the time, there was no federal safety net, and the local municipality or county saw it as their responsibility to care for the less fortunate. Megan Birk, a professor at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, has explored this history. She explains that poor farms were not rehabilitation centers offering long-term care, but instead provided an opportunity for people to get back on their feet. Many residents stayed for only a short time. Poor farms were often linked to county asylums for the mentally ill (or “the chronic insane” as they were then called) and asylum patients sometimes were sent to the poor as a form of therapy. 

The poor house system ended in the mid-20th century due to changes to the social safety net. In particular, the implementation of Social Security, Unemployment Insurance and Aid to Families with Dependent Children, championed in the progressive era as more humane than institutionalized care, moved the responsibility to the federal government rather than counties and municipalities. 

In 2008, artists Michelle Grabner and Brad Killam acquired the Waupaca County Poor Farm. The property is now privately owned and is an experimental artists’ space, featuring exhibitions, studio spaces and an artist residency program. This also explains the blank historical plaque, which is an art project commemorating “the lost histories of the many individuals who passed through America's Poor Farm system.”

There is a cemetery close by, where some poor farm residents are buried. However, all of the land parcels in the area are in private ownership, and landowners are not required to grant public access to cemeteries on their land. To avoid being cited from trespassing, consult the property owners before entering.