Montague County Poor Farm

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Montague County Poor Farm. Now settle in, because this story starts with a handshake, a dollar amount, and a patch of North Texas dirt, and it ends up saying something true about what a community owes its own people. On March 15, 1888, Montague County Judge Griffin Ford oversaw the purchase of a plot of land about one mile east of the town of Montague.

The county's purpose was plain: this would be a poor farm, a place where people with nothing could find shelter, food, and something useful to do with their hands. The land was rented for three dollars an acre, with the understanding that the renter could keep able-bodied needy residents on as farmhands. Practical arrangement, that.

The county needed someone to run the thing, so they put it out to bid. A man named J. M.

Martin won that first bid, agreeing to take on the role of operator at ten dollars and forty cents per person per month. For that sum, Martin would furnish food, bedding, clothing, medical expenses, and even the costs associated with burials. Every contingency, cradle to grave, covered in one agreement.

The state's Agricultural Bureau, in its 1887 to 1888 annual report, counted sixteen paupers being housed at the Montague County Poor Farm. Sixteen souls who, without that place, would have had nowhere to go. Now, sixteen is not a small number when you're responsible for every meal and every blanket.

But Montague County was not finished growing into this responsibility. By 1899, the farm was moved. The new location sat west of Montague and spread across 320 acres, which is a considerable piece of ground.

A nine-room big house went up for a residence, and a new water well was dug. Room to breathe, room to grow, room to house more neighbors in need. And the 1900 United States Census confirmed the growth: twenty-one indigents were living at the poor farm by then.

The decades rolled on. In November of 1934, the Commissioners Court allowed the Brock family to move their house onto the poor farm property, leaving that home to become county property in the process. That made it the third dwelling used at the farm over its long life.

The county was also renting land out to farmers who wanted to plant crops there, and at some point the county sold off its cattle herd. Then came 1935 and the Federal Works Progress Administration, the WPA, which established a project right there to produce garments for families in need. So the poor farm wasn't just housing people anymore.

It was stitching clothing for struggling families across the region. And then, in 1938, Montague County and Texas A and M University came to an agreement to lease fifty-six acres for the Grape Experiment and Horticultural Research Station in Montague. Research growing right alongside the rows where the county's forgotten citizens had once worked the soil.

December of 1939 brought the end. The Montague County Poor Farm closed, its chapter finished. But here is what the marker wants you to carry with you down the road: through that institution, Montague County met the needs of its disadvantaged citizens for more than fifty years.

More than fifty years of beds made, meals served, and people sheltered when the world had otherwise moved on without them. That's not a footnote. That's a county keeping its word.

What the marker says

MONTAGUE COUNTY POOR FARM ON MARCH 15, 1888, MONTAGUE COUNTY JUDGE GRIFFIN FORD OVERSAW THE PURCHASE OF A PLOT OF LAND ABOUT ONE MILE EAST OF THE TOWN OF MONTAGUE TO BE USED AS THE COUNTY'S POOR FARM. THE LAND WAS RENTED FOR THREE DOLLARS AN ACRE WITH THE UNDERSTANDING THAT THE RENTER COULD KEEP ABLE-BODIED NEEDY AS FARMHANDS. J. M. MARTIN WON THE FIRST BID, ACCEPTING $10.40 PER PERSON PER MONTH TO BE THE FARM'S FIRST OPERATOR. MARTIN WOULD FURNISH FOOD, BEDDING, CLOTHING, MEDICAL EXPENSES AND THOSE ASSOCIATED WITH BURIALS. THE 1887-88 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE STATE'S AGRICULTURAL BUREAU LISTED 16 PAUPERS BEING HOUSED AT THE MONTAGUE COUNTY POOR FARM. THE FARM WAS MOVED IN 1899 TO 320 ACRES WEST OF MONTAGUE. A NINE ROOM "BIG HOUSE" WAS BUILT FOR A RESIDENCE AND A NEW WATER WELL WAS DUG. WITH THE LARGER LOCATION AND HOUSING, THE 1900 U.S. CENSUS LISTED 21 INDIGENTS LIVING AT THE POOR FARM. IN NOVEMBER OF 1934, THE COMMISSIONERS COURT ALLOWED THE BROCK FAMILY TO MOVE THEIR HOUSE TO THE POOR FARM, LEAVING THEIR HOME TO BE COUNTY PROPERTY. THIS WOULD BE THE THIRD DWELLING USED AT THE POOR FARM. LAND WAS ALSO RENTED OUT TO FARMERS WHO WISHED TO PLANT CROPS THERE AND THE COUNTY SOLD ITS CATTLE HERD. IN 1935, THE FEDERAL WORKS PROGRESS ADMINISTRATION (WPA) ESTABLISHED A PROJECT TO PRODUCE GARMENTS FOR FAMILIES IN NEED. MONTAGUE COUNTY AND TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY CAME TO AN AGREEMENT IN 1938 TO LEASE 56 ACRES FOR THE GRAPE EXPERIMENT AND HORTICULTURAL RESEARCH STATION IN MONTAGUE. DECEMBER 1939 SAW THE END OF THE COUNTY'S POOR FARM. THROUGH THIS SIGNIFICANT INSTITUTION, MONTAGUE COUNTY MET THE NEEDS OF ITS DISADVANTAGED CITIZENS FOR MORE THAN 50 YEARS. (2012)