Marion County Kansas, The County Farm: My model

Status of Dust and Roses: 46.000 words into my 2nd revision of Dust and Roses. The 1st revision was a read through with note taking. Still smoothing out big wrinkles. Suspect I'm only halfway through. This thing is growing bigger all the time. May have to cut it  back -- hope not.

RAY BRADBURY books are out!! For far too long the vintage Rad Bradbury has not been available. Sure, some of the later stuff, which, lets face it, is lame compared to the Good Stuff. I'm here to tell you, kiddies. Many of those wonderful and scary stories we read as kids are available again.
    
Yes sirree. Many, not all, of his best books are in Kindle, and I presume in print as well. Books include: The Illustrated Man, Something Wicked This Way Come, Fahrenheit 451, and The Martian Chronicles, I truly hope there will be another batch of Bradbury releases down the road. I've downloaded Dandelion Wine, October Country and Medicine for Melancholy so far.

Main Topic: The Marion County (KS) Farm.

The story Dust and Roses would not have been written without that trip to see the "county asylum" on Old Mill Road in Marion County. I need to get back there. The history of this poor farm is interesting. In 1888 Marion county voted to build a "poor asylum'' at equal distance from Marion, Peabody, and Hillsboro Kansas. It would be a three story limestone structure that would hold 6 men and 6 women.  Its doors were open in 1890 as a shelter for the poor, and the disabled. The farm had 160 acres, a quarter section, and the land was considered all tillable.

As a rule the verdict of history has fallen hard on poor farms, or county farms, as they were later called. Poor management, poor funding, dirty and ill kept; all these things did occur at many county farm, including some gigantic ones back east. They were called poorhouses or almshouses. Unruly children were threatened to be taken to the poorhouse if they did not behave. A poor reputation suited the county's purposes as well. After all, we don't want them to become a popular destination for people to go to, do we?


In the case of the Marion County Farm I would say cost of upkeep was one big factor in its demise. In the late 1940s it was closed for 2 years for renovating, probably electrification as well. It reopened in 1950 as "Cedar Rest," a name change to take away the stigma of "poor asylum." Much of the land was sold to pay for the renovations which included a new cement floor in the bottom floor. This floor would be an open area for all residents to be during the day. The two upper floors were where the rooms would be.

     My own take is that even though they existed from around 1820 to 1945 give or take, they eventually became obsolete. In 1935 Social Security became law and later expanded. This meant an old age pension for many of the older residents. And that's what many poor farms and poorhouses were becoming anyway, old folks homes. An old age pension meant they could get out and live in town where other services were available.

For the next 14 the county continued to manage Cedar Rest in much the same way when it was a poor farm. Cedar Rest would close in late 1964. More accountability, stiffer rules, more upkeep that would cost more in taxes meant the end. This date is a relatively late one for a rest home set out in the country to close. An auction was held in November 1964 to sell off the furnishings and remaining farm equipment.

After that the place was owned by different people and tried as different things including, a restaurant, VFW post, youth hostel, and rental property. Today, it is derelict. Although someone stills lives in the back.   For more info on Marion County Poor Farm as well as a treasure trove of other poor farms around the country see poorhousestory.com