- Franklin County Infirmary -

Franklin County, Ohio

On March 8th, 1831, Then Legislature of Ohio passed "An act to authorize the establishment of Poor Houses" in any county in the State, at the discretion of the Commissioners of the County. By February 1, 1833, the first "Poor Farm" was ready for the reception of paupers. It erected on a farm three miles from Columbus at the fork of the Scioto and Olentangy rivers.

By 1840 the County Commissioners concurred that the farm was too far removed from Columbus making it both incovenient and expensive to convey sick and infirm persons to the city. A five acre farm was purchased on the west side of King avenue to which an additional six acres was later added. In 1850 the Ohio Legislature passed an Act to change the name of Poor Houses to that of "County Infirmaries."

In 1867 The Annual Report of the State Board of Charities showed the Infirmary to be overcrowded and woefully inadaquate due to "the inability or indisposition of the county to make better provision for the unfortunate classes..." On December 1, 1869, now desiring to locate in a farm setting, the County Commissioners purchased 150 acres two miles north of the State House and one mile west of High street for the new County Infirmary. The new facility, a three-story red brick structure, was opened in 1883 and remained at this location until razed in 1968.